LIBRARY 

OB  THE 

University  of  California. 

GIFT    OF 

The  Bancroft  Library  - 

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S%  /£3?3 


Cl-T 


OUTLINES 


OF    THE 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


OF 


MICHIGAN. 


BY 


JAMES     V.     CAMPBELL 


DETROIT  : 
SCHOBER     &     CO. 

1876. 


f£ 


Copyright,   1876, 
By    JAMES     V.     CAMPBELL 


SCHOBER   &   Co. 
PRINTERS    AND    BINDERS, 

7  Fort  St.  W. 


PREFACE 


This  work  was  originally  intended  as  a  sketch  to 
be  used  for  the  purposes  of  the  Centennial  Committee 
of  Michigan,  and  was  prepared  in  more  haste  than  was 
otherwise  desirable.  The  time  allowed  for  it  was  not 
sufficient  to  permit  any  very  extended  researches  among 
original  materials.  Although,  for  some  twenty  years 
past,  the  writer  has  made  occasional  collections  of  such 
material,  yet  his  work  must  be  regarded  as  largely 
compiled  from  his  predecessors,  who  have  been  so  fre- 
quently relied  on  that  this  general  acknowledgment  is 
more  appropriate  than  would  be  any  attempt  to  credit 
them  in  particular  places.  He  has  drawn  freely  from 
the  Lanmans,  and  Mrs.  Sheldon,  from  the  "  Historical 
Sketches  of  Michigan,"  and  from  the  local  sketches  of 
Judge  Witherell  and  Mr  R.  E.  Roberts,  as  well  as 
from  Parkman  and  the  French  authors  —  especially 
Charlevoix,  La  Hontan,  Hennepin,  Tonty  and  Joutel, — 
correcting  them,  so  far  as  he  could,  by  the  French 
documents.  In  matters  concerning  the  War  of  1812, 
Mr.  Lossing's  "  Field-Book"  has  been  of  much  service 
Upon  that  war  there  is  no  lack  of  authentic  documents 
and  histories. 

Much,  also,  which  has  not  been  recorded  by  the 
historians,  has  been  found  scattered  through  early  and 
modern  biographies,  books  of  travel,  and  other  less  pre- 
tentious   works,    as    well   as   in    newspapers  and   private 

229453 


IV  PREFACE. 

writings  ;  and  many  interesting  facts  appear  incidentally 
in  public  documents  and  land  books  and  other  local 
records.  The  early  recording  officers  placed  on  record 
a  great  many  private  papers  which  were  not  muniments 
of  title,  but  related  to   family  matters. 

A  long  residence  in  Detroit  has  given  some  oppor- 
tunities for  procuring  information  from  living  sources,  and 
for  observing  things  which  were  not  without  value  for 
reference.  It  has  also  enabled  the  writer  to  understand 
and  explain  some  things  which  could  hardly  be  com- 
prehended from  writings  alone.  Many  gentlemen  have 
busied  themselves  with  gathering  and  preserving  his- 
torical material,  and  have  accumulated  much  that,  with 
sufficient  time  and  labor,  will  be  some  day  made  a  very 
valuable  addition  to  the  annals  of  Michigan  and  the 
Northwest.  Besides  the  numerous  documents  preserved 
by  the  Historical  Society,  and  the  narratives  and 
sketches  gathered  by  the  Pioneer  Society,  it  is  not  im- 
proper to  mention  Hon.  C.  C.  Trowbridge,  Hon.  Charles 
I.  Walker,  Robert  E.  Roberts,  Esq.,  Bela  Hubbard,  Esq., 
and  Hon.  Levi  Bishop,  as  active  workers  in  this  field. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  results  of  Judge  Walker's 
diligent  researches  will  be  given  to  the  public  in  a 
durable  form.  To  all  these  gentlemen,  as  well  as  to 
Hon.  E.  A.  Brush,  and  many  other  personal  friends, 
who  have  aided  him  by  information  and  suggestions, 
the  writer  records  his  acknowledgments. 

He  trusts  that  his  imperfect  sketch  will  not  be 
without  some  value,  as  a  contribution  upon  a  subject 
which,  as  yet,  has  been  very  far  from  receiving  ex- 
haustive  treatment   from    any   one. 

Detroit,  May  i,   1876. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER     I . 

Page 
Preliminary.       No   popular   government    until    Councils   ot     1824   and 

1827.  Chief  growth  has  been  since  that  time.  Eventful  close 
of  the  first  half  century  of  the  United  States.  Michigan  of 
French  origin,  and  with  institutions  unlike  those  of  English 
colonies.  Part  of  New  France  and  Canada.  French  writers 
and  explorers.  La  Salle,  Hennepin,  Tonty,  Fa  Hontan,  Char- 
levoix. Full  records  in  the  Department  of  the  Marine. 
French  regime  despotic  and  peculiar.  Attention  of  govern- 
ment extended  to  private  affairs.  Intrigues  in  Church  and 
State.  Publication  of  old  records  by  New  York.  Collections 
in  Canada  and  elsewhere 1 


CHAPTER     II. 

Early  explorations.  Michigan  was  a  part  of  New  France.  Settle- 
ments delayed  by  its  Canadian  connection,  in  the  interests  of 
fur  trade  and  of  missions.  Date  of  discovery  unknown.  An- 
cient resort  for  beavers  and  furs.  Hurons  or  Ouendats.  Le 
Detroit,  or  the  Strait,  known  very  early.  Champlain  and  the 
Recollet  Missions.  Michigan  not  held  by  the  Iroquois.  Mis- 
sions in  the  Upper  Peninsula.  Raymbault,  Jogues,  Mesnard. 
Mission  of  St.  Ignace  and  Mackinaw.  Pere  Marquette.  Cou- 
reurs  de  bois  and  fur*  trade.  Character  of  contraband  adven- 
turers. Bushrangers  the  first  explorers  and  soldiers.  Jesuit 
missionaries  opposed  to  settlements    

CHAPTER     111. 

Preparation  for  Western  occupation.  Territorial  ambition  of  Louis 
XIV.  Supposed  route  to  China  and  the  Indies.  Contest  be- 
tween friends  and  enemies  of  exploration.  Expeditions  sent 
out  by  Talon  towards  South  Sea.  St.  Lusson  at  the  Sault  de 
Ste.  Marie.  Success  of  French  in  dealing  with  Indians.  La- 
Salle's  first  expedition  not  completed.  Joliet,  Dollier  and 
Galinee.  Dollier  and  Galinee  destroy  an  idol  at  Detroit. 
Trade  monopoly  and  contraband.     Coureurs   de  bois  restrained 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page 
by  law.  Eminence  of  their  leaders.  The  regiment  of  Carig- 
nan  Salieres.  English  encroachments.  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. New  York  ceded  to  the  English.  Colbert  offers  re- 
wards for  discovery.  The  Religious  Orders  and  their  influence. 
Grandfontaine  sends  out  Joliet.  Voyage  to  Akansas  country. 
La  Salle  ennobled,  and  authorized  to  explore.  Tonty.  Pre- 
parations for  journey.  The  Griffin.  Skilled  mechanics.  Ri- 
bourde,  Membre,  Hennepin,  Missionaries.  Launch  and  voyage 
of  the  Griffin.     Reaches  the  Detroit   August  ioth,   1679 20 

CHAPTER     IV. 

Early  settlements  in  Michigan.  La  Salle  sends  men  to  Michigan 
to  wait  for  him.  Teuchsa  Grondie  and  the  early  settle- 
ments on  the  Strait.  Karontaen,  whether  the  same  as 
Carontouan.  Many  forms  of  the  same  names.  Champlain's 
knowledge  of  the  Strait.  Griffin  at  the  Detroit.  At  Lake  Ste. 
Claire  on  St.  Claire's  Day.  Lake  Ste.  Claire  known  as  Otsi- 
keta,  Chaudiere,  Kandekio  and  Ganatchio.  La  Salle  reaches 
Mackinaw  and  goes  southwest.  At  St.  Joseph.  Strife  with 
Iroquois  and  English  for  the  fur  trade.  Eminent  adventurers. 
l)u  Luth,  De  la  Foret,  Durantaye,  Lusigny.  Duchesneau 
complains  of  Frontenac  and  Du  Luth  as  favoring  contraband 
trade.  Amnesty  to  coureurs  de  bois.  Colonial  intrigues.  Du- 
Luth  goes  to  France.  Importance  of  Lake  Erie.  Correspon- 
dence between  De  la  Barre  and  Governor  Dongan.  Denonville 
sends  Du  Luth  to  build  Fort  St.  Joseph,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Huron.  McGregory  and  Roseboom  expeditions  and  capture. 
Tonty,  La  Foret,  Durantaye,  Du  Luth  and  Beauvais  de  Tilly 
go  east  with  the  prisoners,  to  join  the  Seneca  campaign.  La- 
Hontan  sent  to  Fort  St.  Joseph.  Lafontaine  Marion,  guide  to 
McGregory,  shot.  Grisolon  de  la  Tourette,  brother  to  Daniel 
Grisolon  Du  Luth.  Iroquois  claim  againsc  French  control  of 
the  Detroit.  Mackinaw  an  important  point.  Hurons  and 
Ottawas.  Industry  of  the  Hurons.  Fort  St.  Joseph  abandoned. 
La  Motte  Cadillac.  New  York  covets  the  western  trade. 
Coureurs  de  bois  or  bushlopers  valuable  to  the  Colonies. 
Cadillac  proposes  a  fort  at  Detroit.  Livingston  recognizes 
importance  of  getting  Detroit  or  Wawyachtenok.  Cadillac  goes 
to  France  to  lay  his  plans  before  the  King.  Authorized  to 
found  Detroit.     Fort  Pontchartrain     36 

CHAPTER     V. 

Detroit  under  Cadillac.  Iroquois  complain  of  French  occupancy. 
Convey  their  claims  to  William  III.  Lake  Erie  and  its  vari- 
ous names.     Iroquois  not   claimants  of  Michigan.     Importance 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

Page 
of  water-ways.     Description  of  the  Strait  and  its  islands.     Why 

the  post  was  not  placed  on  Grosse  He.  Bois-blanc  Island. 
Fortifications  at  Detroit.  Cattle  and  horses.  Buildings. 
D'Aigremont's  report.  Indians  settle  at  Detroit.  Trouble 
with  Jesuits.  Cadillac  and  his  measures.  Restraint  of  liquor 
traffic.  Monopoly  of  Canada  Company.  Danger  from  English 
intrigues.  Intrigues  against  Cadillac.  Ordered  to  Quebec  for 
trial.  Vindicated  by  Count  Pontchartrain.  Aigremont's  spite. 
Conges  or  licenses.  Delays  in  settlement.  Census.  Cadil- 
lac's seigneurie.  Plans  for  improving  Indians  and  enlarging 
settlement.  Feudal  grants  of  land.  Wheat  introduced.  Mills. 
Enlightened  views.     Cadillac  Governor  of  Louisiana     5$ 


CHAPTER     VI. 

French  rule.  Detroit  the  only  civil  settlement.  Subject  to  English 
schemes.  French  system  opposed  to  freedom  of  action.  French 
settlers  brave  and  enterprising.  No  courts  of  justice.  Public 
notaries  and  their  functions.  Disposal  of  Cadillac's  interests. 
Madame  Gregoire,  his  grand  -  daughter.  La  Foret  succeeds 
Cadillac.  Du  Buisson  commands  during  his  absence.  Detroit 
besieged  by  Mascoutins  and  Outagamies.  Succored  by  Pota- 
watamies,  Hurons,  Illinois,  Missouris  and  Usages.  Fort  re- 
lieved, and  great  slaughter  of  besiegers.  Tonty  the  younger. 
La  Foret's  views  concerning  the  post.  Description  of  Indians. 
Superiority  of  Hurons.  Visit  of  Charlevoix.  Domestic  animals 
and  crops.  Prerogatives  of  the  commander.  Lands  controlled 
by  Governor  and  Intendant.  Trade  monopoly  under  younger 
Tonty.  Licenses  to  privileged  traders.  Popular  remonstrances 
and  Tonty's  annoyance.  Improvement  under  Beauharnois  as 
Governor,  and  Hocquart  as  Intendant.  Beauharnois  favors 
settlements  and  makes  concessions  of  land.  Boishebert,  Com- 
mandant, sanctions  a  water-mill.  Moulin  banal.  Detroit  gov- 
ernment grants  held  in  roture  and  not  by  feudal  tenure. 
Hugues  Pean  and  Bigot.  Few  grants  perfected  by  patent  as 
required.  Cadillac  and  Repentigny  the  only  grantees  of  seig- 
neuries.  Trading  licenses  granted  freely.  Commanders  at  De- 
troit, Pajot,  Deschaillons  de  St.  Ours,  Desnoyelles,  Noyan, 
Sabrevois,  Celoron,  Longueuil,  De  Muy,  Bellestre.  Indian  set- 
tlements in  Michigan.  L'Arbre  Croche.  Liberal  views  of 
Maurepas,  Beauharnois,  La  Jonquiere  and  De  la  Galissonniere. 
The  Phelyppeaux  family,  and  places  named  in  their  honor. 
He  Phelyppeaux  in  Lake  Superior  a  national  boundary.  Its 
disappearance.  Navarre  Deputy  Intendant  at  Detroit.  Notary 
and  tabellion.  Tenure  of  lands  within  the  Fort.  Conditions 
to  keep  up  pickets.  British  and  Iroquois  intrigues  with  the 
Hurons  at  Detroit.     Huron  mission  village  at  Bois-blanc.     Iro- 


V1I1  CONTENTS. 

Page 
quois  on  White   Hiver.     Trade   suffers.     Celoron    and   Joncaire 

on  the  Ohio.  Indian  rising  and  massacre  planned  at  Detroit. 
Chiefs  sent  to  Quebec.  Attack  on  sett'ement  at  Grosse  He. 
Capture  of  ring  leaders.  One  killed,  and  one  commits  suicide. 
Richardie  and  Potier,  Huron  missionaries.  Huron  Mission 
removed  from  Bois-blanc  to  Sandwich.  Resistance  to  English 
advance  on  Ohio.  Galissonniere  urges  sending  out  settlers. 
Fauxsaulniers  or  salt  smugglers  to  be  sent  out.  Colonial  in- 
dustries favored  by  French,  but  opposed  by  English.  Settlers 
sent  out  from  France  to  Detroit.  Scarcity.  Detroit  enlarged. 
Repentigny  settles  at  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie.  War  with  England. 
Detroit  sends  troops  and  supplies.  Piquote  de  Bellestre  active. 
Acadian  refugees.  Bellestre  the  last  French  commandant. 
Detroit  included  in  Montreal  capitulation.  Surrendered  to 
Robert  Rogers.     Account  of  Bellestre 77 

CHAPTER     VII. 

Michigan  under  British  military  rule.  Few  interests  for  law  to  oper- 
ate on.  Detroit,  Mackinaw  and  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  the  only 
settlements.  Fort  Mackinaw  then  in  Lower  Peninsula.  Pop- 
ulation of  Detroit.  Slaves.  Panis.  Buffaloes.  General  Gage 
and  Sir  William  Johnson.  Chabert  de  Joncaire.  Robert 
Rogers.  Royal  American  Regiment.  Pontiac  meets  the  British 
near  the  Cuyahoga.  Arrogant  conduct  of  British  officers  to- 
wards Indians.  Captain  Donald  Campbell  first  commandant  at 
Detroit.  Albany  traders  Trade  regulations.  Pontiac  begins 
scheming.  Effect  of  Treaty  of  Pans.  French  popular  with 
Indians.  Events  at  Mackinaw.  Post  captured  by  stratagem 
of  ball-play.  Conduct  of  various  Indian  tribes.  Etherington. 
Gorrell.  Henry.  Tolerance  of  Indian  barbarities.  Detroit 
during  the  Pontiac  war.  Siege.  Gladwin,  Campbell,  McDoug- 
all,  Rogers,  Dalzell.  Massacre  of  Fisher  at  Hog  Island. 
Cuillerier.  Intervention  of  Chapoton,  Godfroy  and  La  Butte. 
Murder  of  Major  Donald  Campbell  and  escape  of  McDougall. 
Battle  of  Bloody  Run.  Siege  raised.  Bradstreet's  Treaty. 
Tricks  and  mistakes  of  interpreters.  Need  of  civil  government. 
Royal  proclamation  continued  martial  law.  British  suspicions 
against  loyalty  of  French.  Popularity  of  Scottish  officers. 
British  authorities  opposed  to  civil  settlements.  Fur  trade. 
Tndian  grants.  Temporary  courts  established  by  the  command- 
ant. Dejean  and  Le  Grand  justices.  Irregularities  at  Mack- 
inaw. Misconduct  of  Robert  Rogers.  Alexander  Henry  on 
Lake  Superior.  Mining  and  copper  discoveries.  Condition  of 
Detroit  settlements.  Potawatamie  grants.  Royal  officers  at 
Detroit.     No  newspapers   in  Province.     Quebec  Act  passed   ..    Ill 


CONTENTS.  IX 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

Page 
Michigan    under  British  law.     Purpose   and   operation  of  the  Quebec 

Act.  Opposed  by  liberals.  Petitions  for  its  repeal  disregarded. 
Zachary  Macaulay.  Western  posts  continued  under  martial 
law.  Lieutenant  governors  appointed.  Henry  Hamilton  at 
Detroit.  No  regular  courts  till  1788.  Lay  judges.  Justice 
Reaume.  Dejean's  multifarious  duties.  Continued  in  his 
limited  magistracy.  Liquor  selling  regulated  by  agreement 
among  merchants.  American  Revolution  did  not  reach  Mich- 
igan. Garret  Graverat  charged  with  disloyalty.  Execution  of 
prisoners  sentenced  capitally  by  Dejean  without  authority. 
Captain  Lernoult  in  command.  Relations  of  Dejean  with 
Lieutenant  Governor  Hamilton.  Further  unlawful  Indian  grants. 
Loyalty  of  French  at  Detroit.  Difference  between  French  and 
English  colonists.  Destruction  of  American  settlements.  Pol- 
icy of  preventing  civilization.  Events  in  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
Hamilton's  expeditions.  DePeyster  at  Mackinaw  and  his  aux- 
iliary attempts.  Forays  from  Detroit.  George  Rogers  Clark 
captures  Vincennes.  Hamilton,  Hay,  Dejean  and  others  de- 
tained prisoners.  Their  treatment  in  Virginia.  DePeyster 
commanding  at  Detroit.  Acts  as  chaplain  in  marriages  and 
other  duties.  His  character.  Bird's  expedition  to  Kentucky. 
Moravians  in  Michigan.  Zeisberger  and  others  settle  on  Huron 
(Clinton)  River  of  Lake  St.  Clair.  New  Gnadenhutten.  John 
Hay  lieutenant  governor.  First  road  in  Michigan  built  to 
Moravian  settlement.  Fort  Mackinaw  moved  to  Island  of 
Michilimackinac.  Detroit  and  other  posts  retained  by  Great 
Britain,  in  violation  of  treaty  of  peace.  Records  removed  to 
Quebec.  Indian  hostilities  encouraged  against  the  United 
States.  Brant.  Canada  divided.  Upper  Canada  made  a  com- 
mon law  province.  Simcoe  lieutenant  governor.  Grants  to 
American  Tory  refugees.  British  build  fort  at  Maumee  Rapids. 
Wayne's  campaign  and  victories.  Treaty  of  Greenville.  Jay's 
treaty  provides  for  surrender  of  posts  to  the  United  States. 
Fraudulent  Indian  grants  in  anticipation  of  surrender.  Posses- 
sion taken  of  Detroit 153 


CHAPTER     IX. 

Michigan  under  the  Northwest  Territory  and  Indiana.  Territory  cov- 
eted by  the  British.  Plan  to  obtain  it  by  purchase.  Disloyalty 
at  Green  Bay  and  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie.  Election  of  many 
citizens  to»retain  allegiance  to  Great  Britain.  Jonathan  Schieff- 
lin.  Pleasant  social  lelations.  Slaves.  Rights  preserved  by 
Jay's    Treaty.       Wayne    County    organized.       Militia.       Courts. 


X  •  CONTENTS. 

Page 
Ordinance   of   1787.     Courts  at   Detroit  yearly.     Jacob  Burnet. 

John  Cleves  Symmes.  Arthur  St.  Clair,  Jr.  Bluejacket. 
Buckongahelas.  Honors  to  the  Governor's  son.  Indians  in- 
jured by  contact  with  American  settlers.  Flourishing  business 
at  Detroit.  Style  of  living.  French  noblesse.  Marietta  col- 
onists. Solomon  Sibley.  Lewis  Cass  in  Ohio.  Amusements. 
Elections  for  General  Assembly.  Character  of  legislation. 
Schools.  Division  of  Territory.  Seat  of  government  removed 
to  Chillicothe.  Detroit  incorporated.  Chillicothe  riots.  Schieff- 
lin's  courage.  Ohio  Constitutional  Convention.  Wayne  County 
not  represented.  Michigan  attached  to  Indiana.  Detroit  des- 
cribed. Domestic  life.  Dispute  concerning  national  boundary. 
Boisblanc  Island  and  Maiden.  Government  trading  posts. 
Commission  to  settle  land  titles.  Michigan  set  off  as  a 
Territory    198 

CHAPTER     X. 

Governor  Hull's  civil  administration.  Political  contests  of  that  period. 
No  new  settlements  in  Michigan  away  from  the  border.  Pop- 
ulation. Importation  of  Territorial  officers.  Evils  of  their 
local  ignorance.  Governor,  Secretary  and  Judges.  Burning  of 
Detroit.  New  town  planned.  Legislation  of  Governor  and 
Judges.  Court  districts.  Lotteries  for  public  purposes.  Wood- 
ward's plan  of  Detroit.  Militia.  Land  titles.  Discords  among 
the  Governor  and  Judges.  Bank  of  Detroit  incorporated,  and 
annulled  by  Congress.  Kidnapping  British  deserters.  Slaves. 
Indian  treaty  concessions  of  land.  Delays  in  public  surveys. 
Indian  alarms.  Detroit  stockaded.  .  Negro  soldiers.  Quarrels 
of  Hull  and  Woodward.  Social  affairs.  Schools.  First  print- 
ing press.  "  Michigan  Essay."  Father  Gabriel  Richard.  In- 
dian troubles.  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet.  British  intrigues. 
Maiden  agency.  Elliott  and  McKee.  Henry's  mission  to  New 
England.  Indians  defeated  at  Tippecanoe.  Governor  Hull 
goes  to  Washington.  Evils  of  having  no  newspapers.  Sweep- 
ing repeal  of  all  old  laws,  British,  French  and  Territorial.  No 
local  self  government.  Currency.  Taxation.  Imperfect  legal 
system.     Burr's  conspiracy  and  neutrality  laws    232 

CHAPTER     XI. 

Governor  Hull's  military  administration.  Early  omissions  and  mis- 
takes of  the  Government.  Hull's  antecedents.  His  opinions 
on  military  policy.  Rated  by  his  Revolutionary  services  under 
different  circumstances.  War  measures  adopted.  Troops  levied. 
Call  on  Ohio  for  soldiers.  Hull  in  command  of  Ohio  troops 
and  regulars.     March   towards    Detroit.     Baggage    and  invalids 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Page 
sent  by  vessel  and  captured.       Hull  receives  notice  of  war   on 

the  way  from  Maumee  to  Detroit.  British  received  earlier 
notice.  Reaches  Detroit.  Delays  crossing  till  advices  from 
Washington.  Enters  Canada  and  issues  proclamation.  Expe- 
ditions of  Cass  and  McArthur.  Delays  offensive  measures. 
Mackinaw  captured.  Traders  in  British  interest.  Proctor  at 
Maiden.  Battles  of  Monguagon  and  Brownstown.  Hull  retires 
from  Canada.  Chicago  massacre.  Brock  at  Maiden.  Batteries 
built  at  Sandwich  without  interference  from  Hull.  Discontent. 
Cass  and  McArthur  sent  towards  River  Raisin.  British  open  fire 
from  Canada.  Cross  Detroit  River  without  resistance.  Hull  sur- 
renders. Dishonorable  terms  of  capitulation.  Captain  Brush 
refuses  to  be  included.  Sustained  by  court  martial.  Court 
called  to  try  Hull.  Dissolved  because  he  has  not  been  exchanged. 
New  court  called  on  his  exchange.  Conviction  and  sentence 
that  he  be  shot.  Sentence  remitted.  Hull's  defence  and  sub- 
sequent effort  at  vindication.     Discussion  of  the  subject    .....    266 


CHAPTER     XII. 

British  possession  and  American  reconquest  of  Michigan.  Cass  re- 
ports at  Washington  upon  the  facts  of  Hull's  military  trans- 
actions. Brock's  proclamation.  Discussion  upon  true  contents 
of  articles  of  surrender.  Proctor  in  command.  Organizes  tem- 
porary government.  Depredations  and  spoliations.  Attempt  to 
turn  citizens  to  disloyalty.  Indian  threats.  Excitement  in  the 
West.  Capture  of  Revolutionary  trophies  at  Detroit.  Brock 
knighted.  Capture  of  the  Detroit  and  Caledonia,  armed  vessels, 
by  Elliott,  near  Buffalo.  Harrison's  forces  gathering  in  Ohio. 
Maiden  to  be  assailed.  Winchester's  defeat  on  the  Raisin. 
Proctor's  treachery.  Massacre  of  the  wounded.  Fate  of  Wool- 
folk,  Hart,  Graves  and  others.  Dr.  McKeehan's  adventures. 
Ransom  of  prisoners,  and  Proctor's  prohibition  of  further  ran- 
som. Woodward's  spirited  conduct.  Cruelty  to  prisoners. 
Banishment  of  Americans  from  Detroit.  Kentucky  volunteers. 
Ohio  campaign.  Fort  Meigs  besieged.  Capture  of  relieving 
force,  and  Indian  barbarities.  Tecumseh  more  merciful  than 
Proctor.  Siege  raised.  Failure  of  plan  for  second  attack.  As- 
sault on  Fort  Stephenson,  and  brave  defence  by  Major  Croghan. 
Retreat  of  British  and  Indians.  Governor  Shelby  raises  volun- 
teers and  leads  them.  The  mounted  rangers.  Richard  M. 
Johnson.  ^Okemos.  Perry  prepares  a  fleet  and  sails  from 
Erie.  Defeats  British  fleet  in  Battle  of  Lake  Erie.  Transports 
troops  to  Canada.  Proctor's  cowardice.  Retreats  from  Maiden. 
Evacuates  Detroit  and  retreats  up  the  Thames.     Detroit  occu- 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

Page 
pied  by  American  troops.  Hull's  flagstaff  not  used.  Pursuit 
of  Proctor  and  Battle  of  the  Thames.  Tecumseh  killed.  In- 
dians submit  to  Harrison.  Expeditions  of  McArthur  and 
Holmes.  Failure  to  retake  Mackinaw.  Neglect  of  Michigan 
to  commemorate  her  rescuers.  Honors  to  Captain  Hart.  Re- 
union of  veterans  at  Monroe 329 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Administration  of  Governor  Cass.  Lewis  Cass  Governor  and  William 
Woodbridge  Secretary  of  the  Territory.  Indians  troublesome. 
Treaty  of  peace  with  tribes.  Insolence  of  British  officers  in 
Canada.  Search  of  American  vessels  at  Maiden.  Bounty 
lands  appropriated  in  Michigan  for  soldiers.  Report  of  surveyors 
that  no  fit  lands  could  be  found.  False  statements  concerning 
the  country.  Counties  organized.  Indiana  and  Illinois  organized, 
and  part  of  Michigan  annexed.  Territory  extended  beyond 
Lake  Michigan.  Visit  of  President  Monroe.  Sword  presented 
to  General  Alexander  Macomb  from  the  State  of  New  York. 
"Detroit  Gazette"  established.  Unsound  currency  Michigan 
University  chartered,  and  receives  various  gifts.  Sales  of  public 
lands.  New  counties.  County  Commissioners  appointed.  In- 
crease of  lake  commerce.  Land  carriage  by  pack  horses.  Ponies. 
People  reject  offer  of  representative  government.  Re-interment 
of  Captain  Hart.  The  steamboat  Walk-in-the- Water,  the  first 
lake  steamboat.  Symmes's  Ho'e.  Churches  incorporated.  Dele- 
gate to  Congress  authorized  to  be  elected.  Bank  of  Michigan. 
First  steam-voyage  to  Mackinaw  Governor  Cass's  expedition 
to  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  The  British  hold  Drummond's 
Island  and  subsidize  Indians.  Thomas,  the  great  chief  of  the 
Menominies.  Indians  at  the  Sault  insolent  and  raise  the  British 
flag.  Cass  pulls  it  down.  Treaty  concluded.  Territorial  system 
of  criminal  law.  Mischief  of  British  presents  to  Indians.  Con- 
gress creates  new  court  for  the  upper  country.  Large  business 
there.  Territory  re-organized  with  legislative  council.  Judges 
legislated  out  of  office.  Changes  in  offices.  Court  house  built 
and  used  as  capitol.  Curious  manuscript.  Meeting  of  council 
and  change  of  officers.  Erie  canal.  "  Michigan  Herald"  estab- 
lished. Governor  Cass  appoints  officers  on  popular  selection. 
Captain  Burtis's  horse-boat,  and  the  steamer  "  Argo."  Indian 
captives.  Cass  and  McKenney's  expedition.  Roads.  Fort 
Shelby  at  Detroit  abandoned.  Kishkaukon  charged  with  murder. 
Commits  suicide.  Councilmen  to  be  chosen  directly  by  the 
people.  Supervisor  system  adopted  in  counties.  Laws  concern- 
ing colored  people.  Export  of  flour  and  tobacco.  Changes  on 
the  bench.     Sheldon  contempt   case.     First   railroad   charter   to 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

Page 
Pontiac  and  Detroit  Railroad.  Excitement  over  French  Revolu- 
tion of  1830.  De  Tocqueville  hears  of  it  between  Detroit  and 
Saginaw.  Political  removals  and  appointments  of  General  Jack- 
son. Cass  made  Secretary  of  War.  Leading  men  and  social 
affairs  in  his  time.     Revised  Code  of  1 827 376 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

Last  years  of  the  Territory.  Rapid  increase  of  population.  Judicial 
system.  Good  character  of  settlers.  People  desire  to  manage 
their  own  affairs.  Dislike  of  foreign  appointments.  Stevens  T. 
Mason  appointed  Secretary  while  under  age.  Public  remon- 
strance. George  B.  Porter  made  Governor.  Turbulence  of 
young  politicians.  Death  of  Judge  Trumbull,  the  author  of 
McFingal.  George  Morell  and  Ross  Wilkins  appointed  in  lieu 
of  Judges  Woodbridge  and  Chipman.  Popular  vote  to  become  a 
State.  Black  Hawk  war.  Cholera.  Extension  of  Michigan 
Territory  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Death  of  Governor  Porter 
Boundary  commission.  Henry  D.  Gilpin  nominated  as  Governor 
and  rejected  by  the  Senate.  Preparations  to  organize  Wisconsin. 
Preliminary  steps  for  State  organization.  Difficulties  with  Ohio 
about  boundary.  Adoption  of  State  constitution,  and  election  of 
State  officers  and  representatives  in  Congress.  Charles  Shaler 
appointed  Secretary  of  the  Territory  and  declines  the  appoint- 
ment. John  S.  Horner  accepts  it.  Arrives  and  is  not  well 
received.  Lucius  Lyon  and  John  Norvell  chosen  Senators.  Con- 
gress refuses  to  admit  the  State  until  the  people  in  convention 
yield  their  southern  boundary  to  Ohio.  Regular  convention 
rejects  the  terms.  Irregular  or  "  Frostbitten"  convention  accepts 
them,  and  the  State  is  admitted.  Co-existence  of  State  and 
Territorial  officers  for  certain  purposes 425 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Michigan  under  the  Constitution  of  1835.  Sketch  of  the  constitution. 
Condition  of  public  travel  in  1835.  Sanguine  expectations  of 
prosperity.  Educational  measures.  Internal  improvements. 
Geological  survey.  Banking  laws.  Bounties  for  manufactures. 
Five  million  dollars  loan  and  its  unfortunate  history.  Large 
appropriations  for  railroads  and  canals.  Frauds  and  defaults  in 
the  agents  of* the  loan  State  scrip  and  State  warrants  resorted 
to  to  meet  liabilities.  Canal  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  stopped  by 
United  States  troops.  Remarks  on  government  reserves.  Gov- 
ernor Mason.     Revised  statutes  of  1838.     New  revision  in   1846. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

Page 
Changes  injudicial  system.  "  Patriot  War"  or  Canadian  Rebel- 
lion. Expatriation  question.  Free  schools  in  Detroit.  Scrip 
called  in.  Political  changes.  Governor  Barry.  Movements  to 
improve  Indians.  Fictitious  surveys  of  public  lands.  Indian 
names  of  northern  counties  changed.  Sale  of  State  railroads. 
Mexican  War.  Changes  in  the  Courts.  Capital  punishment 
abolished.  The  Upper  Peninsula  and  its  mines.  System  of 
surveys.  •  Burt's  solar  compass.  Asylums.  Normal  School. 
University.  Land  Office.  Capital  removed  to  Lansing.  Adop- 
tion of  new  Constitution    480 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

Michigan  under  the  Constitution  of  1850.  Comparison  of  the  two  Con- 
stitutions. Governors  of  Michigan.  Swamp  land  grant.  Ship 
canal  at  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  built.  Mormon  occupation  of 
Beaver  Island.  King  Strang.  His  assassination.  Spoiling  the 
Mormons.  Obstacles  to  legal  proceedings  in  the  Upper  Penin- 
sula. Prohibitory  liquor  laws.  University  affairs.  State  Reform 
School.  State  charitable  institutions  and  commission  of  charities. 
Grand  jury  system  changed.  Rise  of  the  Republican  Party. 
Military  affairs.  Embezzlement  of  State  moneys  by  John  Mc- 
Kinney,  State  Treasurer.  John  Owen,  his  successor,  raised 
funds  on  his  own  credit  until  the  tax  levies  came  in.  War 
preparations  on  the  eve  of  the  Rebellion.  Michigan  during 
the  Rebellion.  Rebel  seizure  of  the  steamboat  Philo  Parsons. 
Governors  of  the  State.  Judicial  changes.  Senators.  Attempts 
to  revise  the  Constitution  and  their  failure.  Aid-bonds  Ag- 
ricultural College  grants.  Salt.  Destruction  of  timber.  Phi- 
lanthropic legislation  and  measures  to  carry  it  out.  New  State 
Capitol.  State  Library.  Lady  Librarian.  Salaries.  Summary 
of  progress     '. 540 


Note  to  Page  418.  —  The  writer  was  misled  in  regard  to  Mr.  De 
Tocquevilie,  by  a  friend's  hasty  reference,  which  he  discovered,  (too  late 
for  correction  in  the  text,)  arose  from  a  misapprehension.  The  Memoir 
of  De  Tocquevilie  refers  to  the  first  anniversary  of  the  Revolution  of  July, 
which  he  spent  in  the  Michigan  woods  in  the  next  year,  183 1,  and  not 
to  the  Revolution  itself.  He  was  in  France  in  1830.  The  very  lively 
emotion  shown  in  the  reference  was  retrospective. 


OUTLINES 


OF    THE 


POLITICAL    HISTORY    OF    MICHIGAN 


OUTLINES 


OF   THE 


Political  History  of  Michigan. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PRELIMINARY. 


The  political  history  of  Michigan,  as  a  com- 
munity governed  by  its  own  laws,  dates  back  but 
half  a  century.  In  the  summer  of  1824  the  first 
Legislative  Council  met,  composed  of  nine  mem- 
bers, selected  by  the  President  and  confirmed  by 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  out  of  eighteen 
persons  chosen  by  the  voters  of  Michigan  Territory. 
In  1827,  for  the  first  time  a  Council  of  thirteen  sat, 
who  were  chosen  directly  by  popular  vote.  Since 
that  time  the  affairs  of  the  people  have  been  con- 
trolled by  their  own  representatives,  subject,  dur- 
ing the  territorial  stage,  to  a  veto  of  the  Gover- 
nor appointed  by  the  United  States,  and  to  re- 
vision by  Congress ;  and  since  the  organization 
of  the  State  to  a  qualified  veto  by  their  own 
Governor. 
1 


I  INTERESTING    ERA.  [Chap.  I. 

If  that  only  is  political  history  which  covers 
the  life  of  the  people  as  a  political  commonwealth, 
it  would  be  safe  to  begin  at  the  period  of  en- 
franchisement, and  to  confine  our  attention  to  the 
fortunes  of  this  region  since  that  time.  The 
whole  population  of  European  descent  was  then 
less  than  twenty  thousand.  The  cultivated  lands, 
if  placed  together,  would  not  have  covered  a 
single  county.  For  about  half  the  year  there 
was  no  intercourse  with  the  outer  world.  The 
completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  was  opening  the 
way  for  that  great  course  of  emigration  which  has 
since  brought  into  the  West  more  people  than 
were  at  that  time  to  be  found  in  all  the  Northern 
States ;  and  for  some  years  thereafter  a  large 
share  of  those  who  left  New  York  and  New 
England  to  find  new  homes  in  the  Northwest 
settled  in  Michigan.  Several  of  our  flourishing 
towns  were  founded  then  or  soon  after. 

The  times  were  notable  for  other  reasons. 
Some  disputed  questions  of  boundary  and  in- 
demnity under  treaties  with  Great  Britain  had 
just  been  determined,  and  the  line  between  the 
British  and  American  islands  in  the  dividing 
waters  of  this  frontier  had  been  ascertained,  so 
that  the  limits  of  our  jurisdiction  were  fixed  for 
the  first  time. 

The  completed  half  century  of  the  republic 
found  us  in  treaty  relations  with  the  Empire  of 
Russia,  and  with  the  new  American  Republics  of 
North   and    South   America,    which    our    example 


Chap.  I.]  ORIGIN  OF  INSTITUTIONS.  O 

had  led  to  independence.  The  first  combined 
arrangements  had  been  made  with  Great  Britain 
for  checking  the  slave  trade,  which  the  completion 
of  the  century  finds  practically  abolished.  The 
history  of  Michigan,  from  that  period,  is  one  of 
very  rapid  progress,  and  the  last  fifty  years  have 
been  remarkable  years  for  the  whole  civilized 
world. 

But  the  earliest  days  of  the  life  of  any  people 
must  always  have  some  influence  on  the  future, 
and  usually  one  which  determines  in  no  small 
degree  the  character  of  popular  institutions  and 
progress.  The  institutions  of  the  United  States 
are  mostly  natural  developments  from  those  of 
the  earliest  settlements ;  and  those,  again,  were 
modifications  of  the  older  British  customs,  which 
have  been  vigorous  and  adaptable  since  times 
more  distant  than  any  of  which  we  have  complete 
histories. 

The  settlements  in  Michigan  were  made  very 
early,  and  the  Canadian  annals,  to  which  our  first 
history  belongs,  date  back  of  most  of  those  of 
the  English  colonies.  The  beginnings  of  Cana- 
dian colonization  appeared  more  promising  than 
those  of  -New  England  or  Virginia.  None  of  the 
thirteen  commonwealths  that  declared  their  inde- 
pendence had  ever  been  watched  by  Great  Britain 
with  that  solicitude  which  was  spent  on  the  French 
provinces  byw  their  home  government,  or  which 
has  been  bestowed  on  Canada  since  the  other 
British  possessions  separated  from  it. 


4  EARLY   FRENCH   WRITERS.  [Chap.  I. 

If  the  commonwealths  within  the  United  States 
prospered  under  neglect,  and  their  neighbors 
suffered  from  too  much  home  attention,  perhaps 
the  experience  of  a  region  which  has  been  through 
both  experiences  may  not  be  altogether  without 
value  as  an  example  of  what  may  be  followed, 
and  what  may  be   shunned. 

The  leading  features  of  the  colonial  history  of 
Michigan,  so  far  as  they  show  its  experience  in 
matters  of  government,  may  be  given  briefly. 
No  sketch  would  be  complete  without  them. 
The  purposes  of  this  outline  will  not  allow  an 
extended  narrative  of  those  romantic  adventures 
which  add  so  much  life  to  the  annals  of  this 
region.  Historians  have  loved  to  dwell  upon 
them,  and  under  the  hands  of  such  artists  as  Park- 
man  they  have  assumed  the  shape  and  color 
of  present  reality.  The  older  writers  have  pre- 
served many  brilliant  sketches  of  the  remarkable 
events  of  their  times.  Hennepin,  always  graphic, 
if  not  always  reliable,  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not 
the  very  first,  who  gave  a  minute  description  of 
the  country  about  the  great  lakes,  and  who 
detailed  the  beginnings  of  La  Salle's  discoveries 
more  faithfully  than  their  sequel.  La  Hontan,  who 
has  also  been  charged  with  exaggeration  in  some 
things,  and  with  some  sheer  inventions,  is  never- 
theless fully  corroborated  by  other  witnesses,  in  a, 
great  part  of  his  personal  narrative,  so  far  as  it 
concerns  our  affairs.  Charlevoix,  who  was  histor- 
ian as  well  as  traveller,  has  left  works  of  sterling 


Chap.  I.]  COLONIAL   DISCORDS.  0 

merit  and  great  interest,  and  his  style  is  very 
attractive.  He  too  has  left  much  unsaid,  and  has, 
probably  without  sinister  intentions,  colored  his 
picture  according  to  the  strong  prejudices  of  his 
order. 

The  discoveries  made  among  the  old  records 
of  the  Department  of  the  Marine,  and  in  family 
and  other  collections,  have  rendered  much  of  the 
old  histories  very  unreliable.  These  papers,  which 
are  now  coming  to  the  light,  show  a  very  strange 
condition  of  affairs.  There  seems  never  to  have 
been  a  time  when  harmony  prevailed  among  all 
the  influential  persons  or  authorities.  The  Gover- 
nor was  frequently  and  perhaps  generally  at  war 
with  the  Intendant,  upon  questions  of  vital  policy. 
The  ecclesiastics  were  opposed  to  the  views  of 
the  civil  officers,  and  the  religious  orders  were 
arrayed  secretly  or  openly  against  each  other. 
Official  letters  written  in  one-  sense  were  qualified 
by  private  despatches  in  another.  Every  leading 
man  had  spies  upon  his  conduct,  who  were  them- 
selves watched  by  other  spies.  The  whole  truth 
seldom  reached  France  from  any  source  ;  and  the 
only  means  of  redress  open  to  many  of  the  lead- 
ing spirits  of  the  colony  against  those  who  per- 
sistently thwarted  the  Royal  intentions  in  their 
favor,  was  a  personal  appeal  to  the  King  or  his 
ministers  in  the  mother  country.  As  it  was 
shrewdly  remarked  by  one  of  the  ministers,  the 
King's  orders  lost  their  force  when  they  crossed 
the  Bank. 


D  INFORMATION  SUPPRESSED.  [Chap.  I. 

This  is  readily  understood,  when  it  is  known 
that  the  first  public  printing  press  in  Canada  was 
set  up  after  the  English  conquest,  about  1764; 
and  no  such  thing  as  public  opinion  was  known 
as  an  influence  in  the  affairs  of  government. 
News  could  only  get  abroad  as  rumor  or   gossip. 

The  only  books  which  criticised  the  conduct 
of  the  church  or  state  authorities,  or  which  vin- 
dicated the  reputation  of  those  who  were  out  of 
favor  were  published  abroad.  No  writer  could 
publish  in  France  any  account  which  was  not 
satisfactory,  as  the  press  was  rigidly  watched. 
The  writings  of  Hennepin  and  La  Hontan,  printed 
in  Holland,  were  assailed  and  denounced  as  the 
work  of  renegades  and  traitors,  and  generally 
•discredited,  without  discriminating  between  what 
was  claimed  to  be  invention  and  the  rest.  Many  of 
the  most  important  documents,  which  in  any  other 
country  would  have  been  made  public,  never  saw 
the  light  until  our  time. 

The  eminent  author  of  the  Commentary  on 
the  Marine  Ordinance  of  Louis  XIV.,  M.  Valin, 
complains  of  the  labor  of  delving  in  the  chaos  of 
edicts  and  public  documents  in  the  office  of  the 
Admiralty,  relating  to  maritime  affairs,  which  he 
speaks  of  as  a  prodigious  multitude.  The  collec- 
tion of  public  reports  and  private  letters  relating 
to  colonial  affairs,  from  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
officers  and  from  persons  of  all  occupations,  gath- 
ered together  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  during 
a    regime    when    every    one    was    suspected,    and 


Chap.  I.]  COLONIAL  DOCUMENTS.  7 

when  colonial  gossip  was  as  keenly  scrutinised  as 
colonial  business,  must  be  enormous.  The  Domin- 
ion of  Canada  has  drawn  largely  upon  these  de- 
posits, and  the  State  of  New  York  has  published 
a  valuable  selection  from  them.  Further  ex- 
cerpts have  been  secured  at  different  times  by 
General  Cass  and  others.  We  may  hope  that 
when  this  material  has  been  thoroughly  sifted  our 
early  history  may  be  made  complete. 


CHAPTER    II. 

EARLY     EXPLORATIONS. 

The  State  of  Michigan  is  a  part  of  the  terri- 
tory colonised  by  the  French,  and  held  under  the 
government  of  New  France  and  Louisiana.  It 
was  never  properly  a  part  of  Louisiana  as  a  sep- 
arate province,  although  in  some  of  the  ancient 
maps  it  appears  to  have  been  included  in  that 
region.  Its  affairs  were  always  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  authorities  in  what  was  afterwards 
known  as  Lower  Canada,  until  the  British  con- 
quest of  1 760-1 763,  after  which  it  remained  under 
military  control,  until  by  an  act  of  Parliament 
passed  in  1774  it  was  annexed  to  the  province  of 
Quebec.  From  its  first  discovery  until  the  close  of 
the  French  supremacy  its  history  is  a  part  of  the 
history  of  Canada,  and  most  of  its  French  inhab- 
itants   were     Canadians    by    birth    or    connections. 

This  dependence  on  Canada  was  a  principal 
cause  why  Michigan  was  not  settled  earlier,  and 
why  after  settlements  were  begun  they  were  not 
allowed  to  be  multiplied.  It  was  early  known 
that  the  lands  were  exceptionally  good,  and  that 
farming  could  be  made  very  profitable.  But  the 
colonial  policy  adhered  to  for  a  long  period  did 
not  encourage  the  pursuit  of  agriculture.      A  wil- 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HURONS.  9 


derness  was  more  precious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
authorities  at  Quebec  than  fields  and  farms.  The 
change  in  sentiment,  if  it  ever  came,  came  too 
late,  and  one  prominent  cause  for  the  loss  of  the 
American  possessions  of  France,  was  lack  of 
people. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine,  with  any  pre- 
cision, at  what  time  this  country  was  first  discov- 
ered by  the  French.  It  must  have  been  visited 
by  travellers  or  roving  traders  long  before  its 
settlement.  The  fur  trade,  and  especially  the 
trade  in  beavers,  was  the  chief  and  earliest  branch 
of  commerce  in  the  colony,  and  began  with  its 
beginnings.  The  Lake  country  was  considered 
by  Indians  and  whites  as  the  chief  source  of  sup- 
ply for  beavers,  and  for  most  of  the  more  valua- 
ble furs  and  peltries.  Long  before  the  Iroquois 
extended  their  incursions  so  far  to  the  west,  the 
peninsula  of  Upper  Canada  was  a  favorite  seat 
of  the  Ouendats  or  Hurons,1  who  were  more 
civilized  and  less  nomadic  than  any  of  their  west- 
ern neighbors.  The  undefined  region  called  the 
Saghinan,  or  Saginaw  country,  which  seems  to 
have  been  sometimes  spoken  of  as  identical 
with  the  Lower  Peninsula  of  Michigan,  was  famous 
for   its    wealth    in    beasts    of   the    chase;    and    de- 

1  The  term  Huron  is  French,  and  was  given  to  these  Indians  because 
of  the  appearance  of  their  hair,  which  was  rough  and  ridged  like  the  bristles 
of  a  wild  boar — "hure."  Cheveux  Releves  was  another  name  of  the  same 
meaning — i.  e.  with  hair  standing  up — applied  by  Champlain  as  is  supposed 
to  the  Ottawas.  The  name  of  the  Hurons  used  among  themselves  was 
Ouendat,  anglicised  into  Wyandot.  Huron  was  an  old  name  for  miners. — 
2  Mezeray,  148. 


10  EARLY  MISSIONS.  [Chap.  II. 

scriptions  of  it  reached  the    first  visitors  at   Mon- 
treal and  were  heard  by  Jaques  Cartier. 

It  is  possible  that  the  wandering  traders  may 
have  had  temporary  stations  on  the  borders,  but 
the  earliest  establishments  of  which  we  have  any 
unquestioned  record  were  the  missions.  There 
are  vague  references  to  companies  of  French 
passing  up  and  down  the  strait  now  known  as 
the  Detroit  River ;  and  there  seems  much  reason 
to  believe  that  a  village  of  Hurons  existed  at  or 
near  the  present  site  of  Detroit  very  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  at  that  period  the  passage  was  dangerous. 
The  Huron  villages,  if  the  accounts  of  early  tra- 
vellers are  correct,  were  not  much,  if  any,  inferior  in 
their  defensive  arrangements,  or  in  their  habita- 
tions, to  some  of  the  first  trading  posts  and  mis- 
sions. That  people,  both  in  language  and  in 
habits,  showed  evidences  of  aptitude  for  civiliza- 
tion beyond  the  ordinary  savages.  The  earliest 
missions  in  the  neighborhood  of  Michigan  are 
supposed  to  have  been  those  of  the  Recollet 
Fathers  in  Upper  Canada,  near  and  on  Lake 
Huron  and  its  affluents,  which  were  founded  dur- 
ing the  time  of  Champlain,  who  is  reported,  but 
perhaps  on  doubtful  authority,  to  have  passed 
through  the  strait  on  one  of  his  journeys,  and  is 
claimed  by  the  official  memoirs  to  have  discov- 
ered this  region  in   1612.1 

i  Champlain's  maps  show  that  he  knew  the  connection  between  Lake 
Huron  and  the  lower  lakes,  though  not  depicting  it  with  geographical 
accuracy. 


Chap.  II.]  EARLY  MISSIONS.  11 

Whether  any  of  the  missionaries  visited  this 
immediate  neighborhood  during  their  residence 
among-  the  Hurons  at  Georgian  Bay  is  not 
known.  But  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
they  had  a  mission  of  some  consequence  on  the 
eastern  side  of  Lake  Huron,  near  its  outlet  and 
not  far  north  from  Port  Sarnia. 

When  the  Iroquois  overran  the  Huron  coun- 
try all  vestiges  of  the  European  settlements  dis- 
appeared. The  Lower  Peninsula  of  Michigan 
having  been  mostly  unoccupied  by  tribal  settle- 
ments, there  was  very  little  to  invite  invasion. 
In  their  western  excursions  the  Iroquois  appear 
on  some  occasions  to  have  reached  the  southern 
borders  of  Lake  ,  Michigan.  But  there  is  no 
evidence  that  they  ever  dwelt  in  the  lake  region 
of  Michigan ;  and  if  they  ever  traversed  it,  they 
retained  no  hold  on  it.  It  was  never  actually 
possessed  by  any  but  the  northern  and,  western 
tribes,  who  were  independent  nations,  and  owed 
no  fealty,  and  acknowledged  none,  to  the  Iroquois 
or  their  allies. 

Missions  were  founded  by  the  Jesuits  on  the 
northern  and  southern  borders  of  the  Upper  Pen- 
insula of  Michigan.  Raymbault  and  Jogues  visited 
the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  in  1641,  but  do  not 
seem  to  have  made  any  establishment,  having 
returned  to  their  mission  at  Penetanguishine  the 
same  year.  In  1660  Mesnard  coasted  along  the 
south  shore  of  Lake  Superior  as  far  as  the  head 
of  Keweenaw    Bay,    known    as    L'Anse.       Having 


12  MESNARD.  [Ckap.  II. 

wintered  there  alone  among  the  Indians,  he  went 
westward  in  the  spring,  passing  through  Portage 
Lake,  and  intending,  after  crossing  the  narrow 
strip  of  land  known  as  the  Portage,  (which  has 
been  recently  opened  to  navigation  by  a  ship 
canal,)  to  continue  his  journey  to  Chegoimegon 
Bay.  This  is  the  bay  lying  south  of  the  Apostle 
Islands,  on  one  of  which,  at  La  Pointe,  is  a  very 
old  settlement  and  mission.  Mesnard  had  but  a 
single  Indian  with  him,  and  while  this  companion 
was  removing  the  canoe  and  its  contents  across 
the  Portage,  the  missionary,  who  was  an  elderly 
man  and  quite  feeble,  strayed  into  the  woods,  and 
disappeared.  How  he  could  have  been  lost 
beyond  the  power  of  an  Indian  to  discover  his 
trail,  we  are  not  informed.  It  is  very  likely  he 
was  deserted,  or  worse,  by  a  treacherous  guide. 
There  is,  however,  a  tradition  that  he  was  killed 
by  the  Sioux.  In  October,  1665,  Father  Allouez 
established  the  Mission  of  Chegoimegon,  or  La 
Pointe,  which  had  been  the  destination  of  Mesnard. 
The  mission  at  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  was 
founded  by  Marquette  in  1668.  The  same  year 
or  the  next  a  mission  was  founded  on  the  Island 
of  Michilimackinac,  but  removed  very  soon,  and 
as  early  as  1669  or  ^70,  to  Pointe  St.  Ignace  on 
the  main  land  north  of  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw 
and  west  of  the  Island.  This  place  was  occupied 
for  many  years.  The  establishment  was  after- 
wards, (but  when  is  not  precisely  known  from 
published  authorities,)   transferred  to   the   northern 


Chap.  II.]  MACKINAW   MISSION. 


]3 


point  of  the  Lower  Penirfsula  of  Michigan,  not  far 
from  Cheboygan.  In  Charlevoix's  time  (1721) 
the  transfer  had  been  made  several  years,  and 
the  old  mission  was  abandoned  and  had  fallen 
into  decay.  In  Bellin's  map  of  1744  it  is  marked 
as  destroyed.  The  determination  of  its  precise 
location  has  been  attended  with  some  difficulty. 
It  derives  interest  from  the  fact  that  the  remains 
of  Pere  Marquette,  some  years  after  his  death, 
were  removed  by  the  Indians  from  the  place  of 
his  first  burial,  and  interred  at  the  church  on 
Pointe  St.  Ignace.1 

The  missions  at  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie  and, 
Michilimackinac  are  regarded  as  the  first  com- 
pletely ascertained  settlements  within  the  present 
State  of  Michigan.  There  is,  at  least,  undeniable 
evidence  when  these  missions  were  founded. 
Both  places  were  important  centres  of  influence. 
But  while  they  may  be  assumed  as  the  pioneer 
settlements,  until  further  facts  are  established, 
there  are  some  things  which  deserve  reference  as 
indicating  a  possibility  to  the   contrary. 

In  1687,  upon  a  controversy  between  the  Gov- 
ernor General  of  Canada  (Denonville)  and  Gov. 
Dongan  of  New  York,  the  former  and  his 
agents  asserted  a  French  occupancy  at  Mackinaw 
for  more  than  sixty  years,  and  French  occupation 
on  the  lower  waters  of  Michigan  from  twenty-five 


1  Marquette  died  on  his  way  to  Mackinaw,  at  the  Pere  Marquette  River, 
where  the  town  of  Ludington  is  now  situated,  and  was  buried  there,  until 
disinterred  as  above  mentioned. 


14  COUREURS   DE  BOIS. 


[Chaf.  II. 


to  forty  years.  Gov.  Dongan  would  not  admit 
this,  but  was  not  disposed  to  admit  of  any  pre- 
vious actual  possession  at  all.  Without  some 
definite  evidence,  such  statements  can  only  be 
regarded  as  having  more  or  less  probability.  At 
the  same  time  it  is  to  be  considered  that  except 
from  missions  and  military  posts  no  official 
reports  were  likely  to  be  received;  and  that  the 
missionary  Relations,  except  where  there  was 
some  controversy  or  difficulty,  were  not  required 
to  refer  to  the  settlements  for  other  purposes, 
and  often  ignored  them  entirely.  The  existence 
of  defensive  posts  appears  very  frequently,  in 
such  casual  references  in  public  documents  and 
letters  as  are  conclusive,  when  the  same  places 
are  not  mentioned  by  historians  nor  always  by 
travellers. 

The  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  and  the  severe 
provisions  against  irregular  trading  had  given 
occasion  for  a  great  amount  of  contraband  enter- 
prise. The  men  who  engaged  in  th!s  were  an 
adventurous  class  of  active  and  bold  rovers  called 
by  the  French  coureurs  de  bois,  translated  by  the 
English  in  official  papers  into  "  bushlopers,"  "  bush- 
rangers" and  "  wood  runners."  Many  of  these 
were  of  the  lower  classes  and  dropped  readily 
into  the  ways  of  the  Indians,  adopting  their  habits 
and  becoming  adherents  to  the  tribes.  But  there 
were  many  also,  of  respectable  connections,  who 
betook  themselves  to  a  wandering  life  of  hunting 
and  trading,    partly   from   love    of  adventure,   and 


Chap.  II.]  COUREURS   DE  BOIS.  15 

partly  because  they  could  find  no  other  means  of 
livelihood.  There  is  no  reason  to  regard  them 
as  a  despicable  or  essentially  vicious  race.  The 
men  who  have  been  driven  to  the  forest  by  feudal 
oppressions  and  monopolies  have  usually  been 
possessed  of  many  useful  qualities,  which  a  better 
government  could  have  turned  to  great  advant- 
age. The  outlaws  of  English  and  Scottish  tradi- 
tions have  generally  been  popular  for  good  fellow- 
ship and  sympathy  with  the  poor.  They  are  sel- 
dom marked  by  cruelty  or  treachery.  The  adven- 
turers from  the  English  colonies  and  American 
States,  who  have  sought  refuge  in  the  woods  and 
have  been  the  pioneers  of  discovery  in  the  remote 
regions,  were  not  compelled  to  go  except  by  their 
own  tastes,  and  have  generally  been  quite  as 
honest  in  their  dealings  as  any  of  their  more 
favored  brethren,  and  have,  as  they  deserve,  a 
very  good  reputation  for  many  manly  virtues. 
The  coureurs  de  bois  were  seldom,  if  ever,  found 
guilty  of  any  treachery  to  the  government,  which 
had  no  claim  upon  their  respect  beyond  the  fact 
that  they  were  of  French  blood ;  and  this  claim 
they  recognized  with  pride.  The  atrocious  mono- 
polies and  exactions  which  were  ultimately  chief 
incentives  to  the  first  French  Revolution,  led  to  a 
recognition  by  respectable  men  of  the  fact  that 
the  offenders  against  such  tyrannical  regulations 
were  not  necessarily  malefactors.  Accordingly  no 
lines  were  drawn  between  those  who  sought  the 
woods    from    love    of    adventure,    and    those    who 


16  FAUX-SAULNIERS.  [Chap.  II. 

went  from  necessity,  and  to  save  themselves  from 
starving.  This  was  practically  admitted  by  the 
government  itself.  In  171 3,  when  the  colonial 
government  had  begun  to  realize  the  value  of 
population,  Mons.  de  Vaudreuil  the  Governor 
General  wrote  very  urgently  to  France  to  obtain 
one  hundred  and  fifty  faux  -  saulniers  (or  contra- 
band salt  makers)  who  were  sent  to  the  galleys 
for  interfering  with  the  salt  monopolies  of  the 
Farmers  General ;  these  would  not  consent  to 
their  going  at  large  in  France,  but  the  offenders 
were  not  spoken  of  as  in  any  respect  undesirable 
colonists.1 

In  1 71 7  eighty  of  these  faux -saulniers  were 
sent  to  begin  the  town  of  New  Orleans.2 

These  bushrangers  were  the  pioneers  of  French 
enterprise  and  discovery ;  and  in  all  the  military 
movements  in  the  remote  regions,  as  well  as  nearer 
the  sea,  they  were  the  chief  reliance  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Their  intimacy  with  the  tribes  led  to  a 
great  ascendancy  in  the  Indian  councils,  and  the 
attachment  of  the  savages  for  these  men  who  were 
familiar  guests  in  their  wigwams,  and  often  mar- 
ried into  the  tribes,  led  to  alliances  in  war.  The 
British  governors  and  agents  attributed  the  whole 
military  success  of  the  French  colonies  to  the 
bushrangers.  In  1700,  Robert  Livingston  in  an 
official  report  declares,  that  "  we  can  never'  ran- 
counter  the  French,  unless  we  have  bushlopers  as 

1  2  Charlevoix,  403.  2  2  Charlevoix,  434. 


Chap.  II.]  IRREGULAR  POSTS.  17 

well  as  they."1  And  Pownall  in  his  elaborate  re- 
port to  the  Congress  of  Albany  in  1754,  points 
out  very  forcibly  the  advantages  of  the  French 
military  settlements  for  colonizing  purposes  on  the 
borders.2 

The  numbers  of  these  bushrangers  were  great, 
and  they  frequently  consorted  in  large  companies. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  they  went 
into  the  wilderness  and  formed  temporary  or 
permanent  trading  posts  much  earlier  than  the 
date  of  any  of  the  recognized  establishments. 
And  while  the  existence  of  these  posts  was 
doubtless  known  to  the  governors  and  colonial 
authorities,  they  were  unlawful  settlements  and 
obtained    no   place   in    the   annals   of   the    colony. 

In  all  expeditions  towards  the  unsettled  regions, 
these  men  formed  a  necessary  part.  The  fur 
companies  from  the  earliest  days  to  our  own 
time  were  obliged  to  employ  their  services,  and 
their  hardy  endurance  and  untiring  good  nature 
are  familiar  to  every  one  whose  memory  takes  in 
any  reminiscences  of  the  northwestern  fur  trade. 
The  Jesuit  missionaries,  however,  seem  to  have 
held  them  in  great  abhorrence.  They  were  no 
doubt  somewhat  indisposed  to  extreme  subservi- 
ence to  the  clergy,  while  the  claims  of  the  Jesuits 
went  far  beyond  what  was  allowed  to  be  their 
due  by  the  French  government  or  its  local  repre- 
sentatives.     Their    roving    habits     led     in     many 

*  4  N.  Y.  Doc,  650.  *  6  N.  Y.  Doc,  893. 

2 


18  JESUIT   MISSIONARIES.  [Chap.  II. 

cases  to  conduct  which  was  very  censurable,  and 
interfered  with  the  success  of  the  missions.  But 
it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  these  men  were  as 
bad  as  their  enemies  have  painted  them  ;  and  in 
judging  them  we  must  not  forget  that  those  who 
opposed  them  most  strenuously  were  opposed 
also  to  the  policy  of  extending  French  settlements 
at  all.  The  motives  of  their  opponents  have  been 
discussed  very  sharply  by  most  of  the  writers 
who  have  succeeded  them,  and  the  documents  in 
the  Marine  Department  have  shown  beyond  con- 
troversy that  the  French  government  found  some 
of  its  most  serious  difficulties  in  dealing  with  an 
order  whose  devotion  and  courage  deserve  high 
eulogiums,  but  who  did  not  make  the  interests  of 
France  or  Canada  their  primary  consideration. 
But  at  the  same  time  that  as  a  body  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  did  not  desire  French  settlements  in 
the  Northwest,  we  are  indebted  to  some  of  them, 
of  whom  Marquette  is  a  noble  example,  for  great 
services  in  exploring  the  country,  and  accurate 
geographical  information.  They  were  second  to 
none  in  their  contributions  to  geographical  knowl- 
edge in  both  hemispheres;  and  as  remarkable  for 
courage  and  perseverance  as  for  scientific  research. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  truth  in  regard  to 
the  reasons  which  led  them  to  act  as  they  did, 
there  is  no  ground  for  suspecting  them  of  indi- 
vidual selfishness.  Their  zeal  for  their  order  was 
unbounded,  but  they  were  devoted  and  unselfish 
in  obeying  it. 


Chap.  II.]  EARLY  NORTHERN   POSTS.  19 

We  may  assume,  whatever  may  have  been 
the  previous  acquaintance  of  the  French  with 
this  region,  that  the  Michigan  settlements  began 
with  those  at  Michilimackinac  and  the *  Sault  de 
Ste.  Marie.  The  creation  of  military  posts  and 
civil  settlements  at  these  places  was  almost  con- 
temporaneous with  the  missions,  and  began  the 
policy  which,  although  opposed  and  hindered,  was 
at  length  to  prevail.  Had  this  policy  of  settle- 
ment begun  earlier  and  continued  unopposed,  the 
destiny  of  Canada  might  have  been  changed. 


CHAPTER    III. 

PREPARATIONS    FOR    WESTERN    OCCUPATION. 

The  movements  for  the  settlement  of  the 
Northwest  began  in  earnest  about  the  year  1670. 
Louis  XIV.  had  developed  into  a  king  of  bound- 
less ambition,  and  had  a  natural  anxiety  to  extend 
his  dominions  into  remote  regions.  China  and 
the  East  Indies  were  at  that  time  looked  upon  as 
mines  of  wealth,  open  to  any  European  monarch 
with  courage  and  enterprise  enough  to  reach 
out  for  them.  The  reports  which  had  come  in 
various  forms  from  the  Northwest  brought  rumors 
of  short  and  easy  ways  through  the  American 
woods  and  rivers  to  the  South  Sea,  and  it  was 
believed  the  rich  countries  of  the  east  were 
within  no  very  long  distance  across  the  continent. 
Louis  and  his  ministers  determined  to  open  and 
control  this  passage ;  and  the  extension  of  Cana- 
dian settlements  was  in  their  view  a  necessary 
step  to  that  end.  The  royal  designs  had  always 
favored  settlements,  but  it  was  very  difficult  to 
know  what  course  was  best,  when  secret  intrigues 
and  conflicting  interests  kept  up  a  series  of  con- 
tradictory representations. 

The  governors,  who  were  generally  anxious 
to  extend  the  colony,  were   entangled  in  all  man- 


Chap.  III.]  ST.  LUSSON   AT  THE  SAULT. 


21 


ner  of  snares,  and  were  misrepresented  and  op- 
posed by  those  who  would  find  no  profit  in  the 
extended  jurisdiction  of  civil  government.  And 
the  first  efforts  to  extend  the  royal  dominions 
resulted  only  in  the  establishment  of  a  few  mili- 
tary posts.  But  the  explorations  had  a  permanent 
value. 

In  1669  or  1670,  Talon,  then  Intendant  of 
New  France,  sent,  or  claimed  the  credit  of  send- 
ing out,  two  parties  to  discover  the  South  Sea 
passage.  It  was  supposed  for  some  time  that 
the  short  route  from  Lake  Superior  to  Hudson's 
Bay  was  all  that  lay  between  the  colony  and  the 
South  Sea.  This  notion  prevailed  in  Champlain's 
time;  and  while  further  experience  had  created 
doubts  concerning  the  precise  way,  it  was  still 
thought  the  upper  lake  road  was  likely  to  be  the 
true  one.  De  St.  Lusson  was  accordingly  des- 
patched in  that  direction,  and  Robert  Cavelier, 
Sieur  de  La  Salle,  was  ordered  to  the  southward. 

St.  Lusson  pursued  his  journey  energetically; 
and  on  his  return  in  1671,  he  held  a  council  of 
all  the  northern  tribes  at  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie, 
where  they  formed  an  alliance  with  the  French, 
and  acknowledged  their  supremacy.1 

From  that  time  forward  it  would  appear  that 
there  was  a  military  post  kept  up  beside  the 
mission,  and  the  traders  made  it  a  rallying    point. 


1  He  supposed  that  he  had  been  within  300  leagues  from  the  Vermilion 
or  South  Sea  and  the  Western  Sea,  where  there  was  but  1500  leagues  more 
of  navigation  to  Tartary,  China  and  Japan. — 9  N.  Y.  Doc,  72. 


22  FRENCH  AND    INDIAN   INTERCOURSE.  [Chap.  III. 

The  French  in  their  early  dealings  with  the 
Indians,  and  especially  with  the  Iroquois,  had 
done  very  much  like  the  English,  and  made  no 
attempt  to  conciliate  them.  But  they  discovered 
the  mistake,  and  by  resorting  to  friendly  methods 
very  soon  conciliated  most  of  their  savage 
neighbors.  The  chiefs  and  people  were  treated 
courteously,  and  without  that  haughty  arrogance 
which  has  too  often  attended  the  dealing  of  the 
whites  with  the  natives.  The  French  settlers 
received  and  dealt  with  them  on  relations  of 
equality,  and  they  lived  together  on  the  kindest 
terms.  It  has  been  noticed  by  all  who  are  fam- 
iliar with  frontier  life  that  the  social  relations  of 
the  French  and  Indians  are  exceptionally  pleasant. 
The  young  men  were  at  home  among  the  tribes, 
and  often  spent  months  with  them,  hunting  and 
roving.  The  wigwam  fare  contented  them,  and 
they  lived  as  their  hosts  lived.  They  were  often 
formally  adopted  as  chiefs,  and  acted  as  friends 
of  the  tribe  whenever  it  was  necessary  to  inter- 
vene on  their  behalf.  It  was  also  very  common 
for  the  kindly  French  woman  to  receive  the 
young  girls  into  her  house,  and  teach  them 
household  industry.  The  removal  of  the"  Indians 
from  Michigan  has  broken  up  these  ancient  ties, 
but  it  was  once  a  pleasant  as  well  as  familiar 
sight  to  witness  the  delight  with  which  the  old 
chiefs  and  their  French  brothers  met,  after  a  long 
separation,  and  exchanged  their  experiences. 

The    alliance    formed    under    the    direction    of 


Chap.  III.] 


DOLLIER   AND   GALINEE  23 


St.  Lusson  was  the  primary  means  of  closing  the 
Northwest  against  the  English  until  after  the 
conquest. 

La  Salle,  who  was  afterwards  to  become  more 
famous  than  St.  Lusson,  did  not  at  this  time  com- 
plete his  explorations.  There  were  joined  with 
him  in  his  expedition  two  seminary  priests, 
Dollier  de  Casson  and  Galinee.  Dollier  was  a 
man  of  great  personal  strength,  and  an  old  officer 
of  cavalry  under  Turenne.  Galinee  was  especially 
skilled  in  surveying,  and  was  to  act  as  geographer. 
They  all  kept  together  until,  after  waiting  in  the 
country  of  the  Senecas  for  a  guide,  they  changed 
their  plans  and  went  to  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario, 
where  they  met  Louis  Joliet.  He  had  come  down 
from  the  upper  lakes,  and  recommended  them  to 
take  that  course  instead  of  going  to  the  Ohio. 
Dollier  and  his  companion  concluded  to  do  this, 
and  La  Salle  remained  behind.  They  spent  the 
winter  at  Long  Point  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Erie,  and  in  the  spring  set  out  again,  but  having 
lost  most  of  their  baggage  by  a  storm  at  Pointe 
Pelee,  they  concluded  to  return  to  Montreal. 
They  passed  up  the  Detroit  River,  and  near  the 
present  city  of  Detroit  found  a  rude  stone  idol 
of  repute  as  a  manitou,  and  worshipped  by  the 
Indians.  These  objects  of  superstition  seem  to 
have  been  found  in  several  places  about  the 
lakes,  and  received  offerings  of  tobacco  and 
other  articles.  The  nearest  one  above  Detroit 
was  the  White  Rock  in    Lake    Huron,  which    Mr. 


24 


IMAGE -BREAKING.  [Chap.  III. 


Schoolcraft  passed  on  his  journey  in  1820  with 
Gen.  Cass's  expedition  towards  the  source  of 
the  Mississippi.1  The  zealous  missionaries  relate 
that  after  their  recent  misfortunes  there  was  no 
one  in  the  party  who  was  not  filled  with  hatred 
against  the  false  divinity.  They  broke  the  idol 
in  pieces  with  one  of  their  axes,  and  contrived, 
by  joining  two  canoes,  to  take  the  largest  frag- 
ment into  deep  water  with  the  remainder,  and  so 
disposed  of  the  abomination. 

This  is  said  by  Mr.  Parkman  to  be  the  first 
passage  through  Detroit  River  of  which  a  record 
has  been  preserved,  although  not  the  first  in  fact.2 
The  same  reliable  writer  has  discovered  evidence 
of  the  continued  labors  of  La  Salle  during  the 
next  few  years,  of  which  no  full  account  has  been 
published,  which  indicates  that  he  was  not  without 
success  in  his  preliminary  work.  But  the  Report 
of  Courcelles  in  1671  shows  an  accurate  know- 
ledge of  the  geography  of  all  the  lakes  but  Lake 
Michigan,  which  must  have  come  from  earlier 
explorations,  and  which  was  not  much  improved 
upon  by  subsequent  travellers.3 


*  Mr.  Schoolcraft  in  that  expedition  remarked  that  he  did  not  see  any 
offerings  except  of  articles  of  no  value,  and  questioned  the  extent  of  the 
reverence  paid  the  images.  Joutel  in  his  journey  says  the  Indians  feared 
death  unless  they  made  offerings,  and  Charlevoix  speaks  of  offerings  as  acts 
of  homage. — Charlevoix,  Letter  19,  Joutel,  (1  La  Hist.  Doc.)  182.  Henry 
gives  several  illustrations  of  these  superstitions. — Henry's  Travels  passim. 


2  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  16,  17. 

3  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  81.     Id.,  p.  21. 


Chap.  ITI.l  TRADE  JEALOUSIES. 


25 


Meanwhile  the  posts  of  Michilimackinac  and 
the  Sault  were  becoming  more  important,  as  the 
traders  extended  their  enterprises.  About  this 
time  several  names  appear  in  history  which  are 
prominent  among  the  great  discoverers  and 
leaders.  Most  of  them  were  recognized  chiefs  of 
the  coureurs  de  Sots.  And  their  place  in  our 
early  annals  is  due  to  a  course  of  affairs  which 
was   noteworthy. 

The  fur  trade,  as  already  mentioned,  was 
regarded  at  Quebec  and  Montreal,  as  it  was  in 
the  New  York  posts,  as  the  chief  end  and  aim  of 
colonial  enterprise.  Every  one,  from  the  Gov- 
ernor down,  was  suspected,  and  perhaps  justly, 
of  having  a  part  in  it ;  and  the  principal  struggle 
seems  to  have  been  between  the  monopolists  and 
the  irregular  traders.  The  church  revenues  were 
increased  by  it,  and  widows  and  orphans  were 
allowed  privileges  which  they  sold  profitably.  The 
result  was  that  the  country  swarmed  with  the 
coweurs  de  dots,  who  were  the  indispensable  agents 
of  all  parties  legally  or  illegally  engaged  in  the 
traffic.  The  missionaries  were  opposed  to  them, 
for  the  assigned  reason  that  they  demoralized  the 
Indians  whom  they  were  laboring  to  convert.  For 
the  same  reason  they  opposed  the  forming  ot 
posts  and  establishments  on  the  frontier.  The 
monopolists  sometimes  succeeded  in  getting  such 
restrictions  laid  upon  the  post  commanders  as  pre 
vented  them  from  dealing  on  their  own  accoun 
with  the    Indians    for    certain    kinds    of   furs,    and 


26 


CARIGNAN    REGIMENT.  [Chap.  III. 


when  the  trade  was  in  the  hands  of  the  great 
companies,  as  it  was  a  large  part  of  the  time, 
they  had  their  own  agents  at  the  forts. 

The  result  was  that  a  contraband  trade  grew 
up,  which  it  was  asserted  brought  the  furs  into 
the  hands  of  the  English,  and  built  up  their  com- 
merce. Their  emissaries  were  also  said  to  be 
getting  into  friendly  relations  with  the  Western 
tribes,  and  drawing  them  into  trade  with  the  Iro- 
quois and  the  New  York  agencies. 

The  influences  which  were  brought  to  bear  on 
the  French  government  were  secret  but  powerful, 
and  the  coureurs  de  bois  wrere  outlawed  and  pro- 
scribed unless  they  came  in  and  ceased  their  wan- 
derings. The  Governor,  with  a  patriotic  desire 
to  save  the  colony  from  the  destruction  which  this 
would  have  inevitably  brought  upon  it,  succeeded 
in  so  far  modifying  this  policy  as  to  put  them 
under  some  reasonable  regulation,  whereby  he 
saved  their  services  to  the  colony  and  secured  the 
trade.  The  frontiers  were  reached  by  leaders  of 
reputation,  and  posts  were  planted  so  judiciously 
as  to  shut  out  the  English  altogether.  These 
men  deserve  special    mention. 

When  the  Marquis  de  Tracy  came  out  as  Vice 
Roy  in  1665,  it  was  with  the  expectation  of  using 
strong  measures  to  suppress  the  Iroquois,  who 
were  aggressive  and  were  regarded  as  dangerous 
neighbors.  For  this  crusade  against  the  Western 
infidels  he  brought  out  the  famous  Carignan  Reg- 
iment, which  had    been   first   organized   in   Savoy, 


Chap.  III.]  COLONIAL  NOBLESSE. 


27 


and  was  afterwarcjs  turned  over  to  the  French 
King.  It  was  a  famous  body  of  troops  which 
had  won  its  latest  laurels  in  fighting  against  the 
Turks  on  the  Austrian  frontier.  The  officers  were 
all  gentlemen  belonging  to  the  noblesse,  of  French 
or  Italian  origin,  and  of  tried  valor.  With  this 
regiment  another  had  been  consolidated,  known  as 
that  of  Salieres,  and  the  whole  force  was  there- 
after known  as  the  Carignan-Salieres  Regiment. 
The  colonial  levies  were  also  under  the  command 
of  officers  of  good  birth,  most  of  whom  are  still 
represented  among  the  French  families  of  Canada 
and  the  Northwest. 

When  the  Iroquois  war  was  over,  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  Carignan  Regiment  were  mostly 
retained  in  the  country.  Many  of  the  former 
obtained  Seigneuries,  and  attempted  to  get  a  sup- 
port from  their  new  estates.  But  the  early  tra- 
vellers give  a  sad  account  of  the  straits  to  which 
these  veterans  were  exposed,  in  keeping  'the  wolf 
from  the  door.  They  were  brave  and  adventu- 
rous, and  worthy  to  rank  with  those  early  heroes 
of  discovery,  Gilbert  and  Raleigh  and  Drake, 
who  found  in  the  favor  of  Queen  Elizabeth  incen- 
tives to  enterprise  which  her  successors  could 
not  appreciate.  They  were  mostly  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  Gallican  Church,  but  not  on  as  good 
terms  with  the  Jesuits  as  with  the  other  orders, 
who  paid  less  attention  to  the  Indians  and  more 
to  their  own  countrymen.  The  French  court 
and  the  Governors  General  appreciated  the  value 


28  HUDSON'S   BAY  COMPANY.  [Chap.  III. 

of  soldiers.  The  civilians  were#  more  attentive  to 
the  interests  of  trade,  and  looked  upon  the  bold 
adventurers,  who  "would  rather  hear  the  bird 
sing  than  the  mouse  squeak,"  as  the  Sheriff  of 
Nottingham  did  on  Robin   Hood. 

The  sagacious  ministers  had  determined  to 
use  this  valuable  material  to  extend  discovery. 
The  expeditions  which  Talon  reports  himself  to 
have  sent  out  were  probably  suggested,  at  least, 
from  France.  It  is  one  of  the  curious  facts  con- 
nected with  the  colonial  administration  that  the 
public  documents  are  usually  made  to  exhibit  the 
local  authorities  as  originating  everything,  when 
the  facts  brought  to  light  from  other  sources,  in 
the  Marine  Department  and  elsewhere,  show  that 
they  were  compelled  to  permit  what  they  osten- 
sibly directed.  But,  however  this  may  be,  it  had 
become  necessary  to  move  in  the  matter,  or  run 
the  risk  of  serious  difficulty  in  the  future. 

On  the  second  day  of  May,  1670,  Charles  II. 
issued  letters  patent  incorporating  "  The  Governor 
and  Company  of  Adventurers  of  England,  trading 
into  Hudson's  Bay,"  granting  them  the  sole  trade 
and  commerce  of  the  waters  within  the  entrance 
of  Hudson's  Straits,  except  in  the  lands  not 
granted  to  others  nor  possessed  by  any  other 
Christian  prince  or  state.  The  ignorance  that  pre- 
vailed on  the  subject  of  the  boundaries  between  the 
two  nations  in  those  parts,  and  the  certainty  that 
future  boundaries  must  depend  much  on  actual 
control  or  occupancy,  made  it   necessary  to    move 


Chap.  III.]  CHECKS   AND   BALANCES. 


29 


at  once,  or  run  a  risk  of  losing   command   of  the 
Northern  trade.1 

At  this  time  New  York  was  in  possession  of 
the  Dutch,  but  a  few  years  after,  in  1674,  this 
also  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  English,  who 
were  disposed  to  make  the  most  of  their  chances, 
and  anxious  to  form  such  trading  connections  as 
would  have  hemmed  in  Canada,  and  shut  off  its 
whole  western  and  northwestern  traffic. 

In  1672  Colbert  advised  Talon  to  offer  a  re- 
ward for  the  discovery  of  die  South  Sea.  The 
King  and  Colbert  united  at  or  about  the  same 
time  in  a  secret  letter  to  Frontenac,  which  gives 
a  curious  illustration  of  the  diplomacy  of  the 
period.  Expressing  warm  commendation  of  the 
clergy  of  both  orders  for  their  devotion  and  ser- 
vices to  religion,  and  commending  them  to  high 
consideration,  it  advises  the  Governor,  without 
creating  any  apparent  rupture,  to  restrain  the 
designs  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  Quebec  within 
proper  bounds  of  respect  for  the  temporal  author- 
ity, and  to  encourage  and  protect  the  ecclesiastics 
of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice  at  Montreal  as 
well  as  the  Recollet  Fathers,  in  Quebec,  — "  it 
being  necessary  to  support  the  two  ecclesiastical 
bodies,    in   order    to    counterbalance    the    authority 


i  In  May.  1872,  my  valued  friend,  Hon.  David  Mills,  M.  P.,  presented 
to  the  Dominion  Government  an  elaborate  and  thorough  report  on  the  boun- 
daries of  the  Province  and  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  is  of  much 
historical  value,  and  contains  information  not,  so  far  as  1  know,  made  public 
in  any  other  work. — See  A  Repoil  on  the  Boundaries,  of  the  Province  of  On- 
tario.    By  David  Mills,  M.  P.     Toronto,  1873. 


30  JOLIET'S   EXPEDITION.  [Chap.  III. 

the  Jesuit  Fathers  might  assume  to  the  prejudice 
of  His  Majesty."1  The  next  effective  action  may 
not  have  originated  in  Quebec,  but  Frontenac  and 
Talon,  the  Intendant,  both  appear  to  have  favored  it. 
In  1672,  Grandfontaine,  Governor  of  Acadia,  sent 
Joliet  to  the  Mascoutin  country  (Wisconsin)  to 
discover  the  South  Sea  and  the  Mississippi  River, 
which  was  supposed  to  discharge  itself  into  the 
Gulf  of  California.2  He  was  joined  at  Mackinaw 
by  Father  Marquette,  and  on  the  17th  of  May, 
1673,  they  left  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignace  on 
one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  early  explora- 
tions. They  went  up  the  Fox.  River  and  across 
the  portage,  to  the  Wisconsin,  and  thus  reached 
the  Mississippi  on  the  17th  of  June.  In  another 
month  they  reached  below  the  34th  parallel  of 
latitude  in  the  country  of  the  Akansas,  and  then 
returned,  reaching  Green  Bay  at  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember. Joliet  went  on  to  Quebec  in  the  next 
year,  arriving  there  during  the  summer.  The 
Governor  reports  him  as  having  found  continuous 
navigation  excepting  at  Niagara,  from  Lake 
Ontario  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  as  having 
discovered  admirable  countries.3  Mr.  Shea,  in 
his  excellent  history  of  the  Discovery  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  gives  a  copy  of  that  portion  of 
Frontenac's  Report  which  refers  to  this  journey  in 
the  original  French,  as  it  refutes   one   of  Henne- 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  88. 

2  Frontenac's  Letter  to  France.     See  9  N.  V.  Doc,  92. 

3  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  I2i. 


.Chap.  III. J  LA   SALLE.  *  31 

pin's  assertions  concerning  Joliet's  failure  to  report 
to  the  government.1 

Joliet  probably  went  eastward  through  the 
Detroit  River  and  Lake  Erie. 

In  1675,  a  patent  of  nobility  was  granted  to 
Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  for  meritorious 
services.2  Among  the  things  which  His  Majesty 
regards  as  especially  worthy  of  reward  among 
his  Canadian  subjects,  is  " despising  the  greatest 
perils,  in  order  to  extend  to  the  ends  of  this  New 
World  our  name  and  our  dominion."  It  is  to  be 
inferred  that  La  Salle  had  spent  some  time,  at 
least,  in  distant  explorations  which  have  not-  yet 
been  published. 

Meanwhile  there  is  nothing  of  record  bearing 
directly  on  the  history  of  Michigan,  beyond  the 
occasional  references  to  the  missions  and  the 
traders.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Du 
Luth  and  others  had  already  penetrated  far  into 
the  Northwest,  and  the  reports  which  credit  him 
with  the  discovery  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  are 
not  improbable.  Hennepin  was  rescued  by  him 
in  July,  1680,  in  the  upper  country,  and  it  was 
probably  familiar  ground. 

In  1 678,  La  Salle,  having  returned  to  France, 
obtained  Royal  letters  authorizing  him  to  spend 
five  years  in  exploring,  with  liberty  to  build  forts 
where    he    should    deem    it    necessary,    and    hold 

1  Shea's  History  of  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  xxxiii. 

2  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  125. 


32 


CHEVALIER    DE   TONTY  [Chaf.  III. 


them  with  the  same  privileges  as  his  fort  at 
Frontenac.  He  was  not  to  trade  with  the 
Outawacs  (Ottawas)  or  others  who  bring  their 
beavers  and  peltries  to  Montreal,  but  was  to 
have  the  right  to  trade  in  buffalo-skins.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  La  Salle  had  with  the 
concurrence  of  Frontenac  and  others  given  a  lib- 
eral construction  to  his  trading  privileges  at  Fort 
Frontenac,  and  such  seems  to  have  been  a  com- 
mon practice. 

He  returned  to  Canada,  having  with  him  an 
associate  who  from  that  time  onward  was  his 
faithful  friend  and  follower,  and  who  was  one  of 
the  most  efficient  men  that  ever  came  to  Amer- 
ica. His  name  appears  constantly  in  the  early 
records  of  dealings  in  Michigan.  This  was  Henry, 
the  Chevalier  de  Tonty.  He  was  of  Italian 
origin,  but  his  father  Lorenzo  Tonty  had  settled 
in  Paris,  and  was  there  as  early  as  1653,  as  in 
that  year  he  submitted  to  the  King  the  financial 
scheme  of  life  interests  and  survivorships  once 
quite  popular  under  the  name  of  Tontine.  The 
Chevalier  began  his  military  career  in  the  French 
army  as  a  cadet  in  1668,  and  served  several 
years  by  land  and  water,  the  naval  service  then 
not  having  been  separated  from  the  military  as 
completely  as  it  has  been  since'.  During  the  Sici- 
lian Campaign  he  lost  a  hand  at  Libisso  by  a 
grenade,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  and  exchanged 
six  months  after.  His  hand  was  replaced  by  one 
of  steel,  which  gave  him  the    name   of  Iron-hand, 


Chap.  III.]  THE  GRIFFIN. 


33 


among  the  Indians  who  had  great  respect  for 
him.  He  returned  again  to  the  wars,  but  when 
peace  was  declared  he  was  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment. He  was  recommended  to  La  Salle  by 
the  Princess  of  Conti,  and  when  that  leader  came 
back  to  Canada  Tonty  came  with  him.  Henry 
de  Tonty  had  a  younger  brother  who  was  for  a 
long  time  in  command  at  Detroit,  and  was  there 
when  Charlevoix  visited  the  place  in  1721.  On 
his  return  to  America  La  Salle  at  once  began 
preparations  for  his  work.  He  met  with  many 
embarrassments,  but  finally,  in  the  winter  of  1678-9, 
began  building  a  vessel  of  sixty  tons  burden,  a 
few  miles  above  Niagara  Falls.  This  was  com- 
pleted in  the  spring  or  early  summer  of  1679. 
This  vessel,  which  was  the  first  that  ever  sailed 
on  Lake  Erie  or  the  upper  lakes,  was  called  the 
Griffin,  and  bore  a  carved  image  of  that  heraldic 
monster  as  a  figure-head,  in  honor  of  Frontenac, 
being  part  of  his  coat  of  arms.  And  in  further 
evidence  of  his  fealty  to  his  friend  and  patron,  La 
Salle  is  reported  to  have  boasted  that  he  would 
make  the  Griffin  fly  higher  than  the  ravens,  the 
black-gowns  or  Jesuits  having  gained  that  sobri- 
quet. '  The  little  ship  was  provided  with  five 
small  cannon  and  two  arquebuses  a  croc,  or  wall- 
pieces  usually  mounted  on  tripods.  The  quarter- 
deck castle  was  surmounted  by  a  carved  eagle. 
A  vessel  of  that  tonnage  was  narrow  quarters  for 
the  number  of  men  in  the  company,  and  the  old 
engravings  (which,  though  not  probably  from 
3 


34 


RJBOURDE.      MEMBRE.      HENNEPIN.  [Chap.   III. 


drawings,  represented  the  usual  style  of  that  time) 
show  the  high  stern  and  after  cabin,  which  were 
then  universal,  and  may  have  had  something  to 
do  with  her  final  wreck.  It  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  skilled  mechanics  and  artists  should  be  found 
in  such  an  expedition.  The  old  chapels  in  the 
Northwest,  where  there  was  no  local  demand  for 
artists,  sometimes  show  bits  of  carving  which 
would  be  creditable  anywhere,  and  indicate  great 
skill  in  the  early  workmen.  On  this  eventful 
voyage,  in  addition  to  his  sailors  and  other  follow- 
ers, La  Salle  was  accompanied  by  three  priests. 
Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde,  the  last  scion  of  an  old 
family  of  Burgundian  nobles,  came  out  in  his  old 
age  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  wilderness,  and 
was  head  of  the  mission,  although  Hennepin  con- 
veys the  impression  that  he  himself  was  in  fact, 
if  not  in  name,  both  civil  and  religious  director. 
Father  Zenobe  Membre  was  of  less  note,  but 
evidently  a  good  and  faithful  man.  Hennepin, 
whose  reputation  is  not  savory,  was  the  third. 
The  latter  wrote  various  versions  of  the  history 
of  the  expedition,  which  are  in  many  respects 
sufficiently  reliable,  but  which  are  grossly  unfair 
to  La  Salle  and  Tonty  as  well  as  others,  and  to 
which  in  the  later  editions  are  appended  narra- 
tives that  are  generally  discredited.  These  appen- 
dages do  not  concern  Michigan,  and  need  not  be 
discussed.  He  was  evidently  distrusted  by  La 
Salle  and  Tonty.  He  accounts  for  the  enmity 
of  the  former,  by    alleging    he    had    rebuked    him 


Chap.  III. 


THE  GRIFFIN   SAILS.  35 


freely  for  religious  shortcomings.  He  lays  Tonty's 
dislike  to  the  inveterate  hatred  of  the  old  soldier 
against  all  subjects  of  the  King  of  Spain ;  and 
his  suspicion  of  the  monk's  fidelity  was  extreme, 
and,  as  it  turned  out,  vnot  illfounded. 

The  vessel  was  manned  by  voyageurs  and 
other  men  of  experience  in  the  country,  and  the 
pilot  Lucas  was  an  old  salt  water  mariner  of 
some  pretensions.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
La  Salle  had  taken  some  pains  to  supply  himself 
with  proper  material  for  his  expedition. 

On  the  seventh  of  August,  1679,  the  Griffin 
started  on  her  first  voyage  to  the  Northwest, 
beginning  her  course  with  the  singing  of  the  Te 
Deum,  and  the  firing  of  cannon.  The  wind  was 
favorable  and  she  made  a  quick  passage  over 
Lake  Erie,  anchoring  at  the  mouth  of  Detroit 
River  or  the  Strait  on  the  evening  of.  the  tenth 
of  August. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS    IN    MICHIGAN. 

The  Griffin  was  built  during  the  winter  and 
spring  of  1679.  In  the  autumn  of  1678  La  Salle 
sent  forward  some  Frenchmen  to  winter  at  Detroit, 
and  meet  him  when  he  should  come  up  in  the 
next  summer.  This  would  indicate  a  knowledge 
of  the  country,  and  an  assurance  that  there  was 
some  place  suitable  for  a  winter  abode.  Allusion 
has  already  been  made  to  the  fact  that  the  early 
narratives  often  make  no  reference  whatever  to 
the  existence  of  posts  and  Indian  villages  lying 
directly  in  the  way  of  the  traveller.  The  narra- 
tives of  the  voyage  of  the  Griffin  do  not  inform 
us  of  any  sight  of  human  beings  between  Niagara 
and  Mackinaw.  We  have  no  certain  means  of 
knowing  whether  there  was  any  Indian  town,  or 
any  post  of  coureurs  de  dots,  upon  the  Strait  at 
the  time.  There  must  have  been  one  or  the 
other  in  all  probability.  Tonty  was  sent  up  in  a 
canoe  in  advance  of  the  Griffin,  to  join  the  others 
at  "  a  place  called  Detroit,  1 20  leagues  from 
Niagara."  This  fact  appears  in  Tonty's  own 
narrative  or  memoir  sent  to  the  Government  in 
1693,  where  he  repeatedly  refers  to  Detroit   as    a 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  STRAIT. 


37 


place  that  can  be  identified  as  at  or  near  where 
the  city  of  Detroit  now  stands.1  It  may  have  been 
that  the  Indian  town  mentioned  by  Colden  as  at 
"  Teuchsa  Grondie"  was  still  in  existence.  The 
term  written  by  the  English  and  Dutch  interpreters 
in  a  multitude  of  different  ways  more  or  less 
resembling  it,  and  by  the  French  as  Taockiarontion, 
Atiochiai'ontiong,  Teiocharontiong,  Techaronkion, 
etc.,  was  applied  properly  to  an  undefined  region 
embracing  the  Strait,2  and  according  to  Hennepin, 
it  gave  a  name  to  Lake  Erie.  Several  of  the  old 
maps  give  it  this  title.  The  name  given  by  the 
Hurons  to  the  place  where  the  city  stands  was 
Karo7itaen,  a  word  closely  resembling  if  not  the 
same  as  Carantouan,  the  great  stronghold  where 
Champlain's  follower,  Etienne  Brule,  spent  a  winter 
with  a  tribe  supposed  by  Parkman  to  have  been 
the  Eries.3  These  men  were  not  sent  up  to 
explore,  and  it  is  difficult  to  believe  they  would  have 
been  turned  out  without  a  leader  in  an  unknown 
wilderness. 

On  the  1 1  th  of  August,  1 679,  the  vessel  weighed 
anchor  and  entered  the  Strait.  The  party  were 
greatly  charmed  with  all  that  they  saw,  and  the  nar- 

i  1  La.  Documents,  53,  68,  69,  70. 

2  Taochiarontion.  La  Cote  du  Detroit. —  Potier  MS.  "  Cote'''  was  used 
as  "coast"  was  in  old  English,  not  merely  to  mark  a  hill  or  water  boundary, 
but  a  vicinage  or  border-land. 

3  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  377-8. 

The  Jesuit  Journal  of  1653  (for  July)  speaks  of  800  of  the  neutral 
nation  wintering  at  $kenchi<?ie3  near  Teiochanonttan.  In  the  New  York  doc* 
uments  the  English  and  Dutch  forms  of  the  name  are  19  in  number. 


38  LAKE  ST.  CLAIR.  [Chap.  IV. 

rative  of  Hennepin,  (like  those  of  La  Hontan  and 
Charlevoix,)  is  almost  rapturous  in  its  expressions 
of  admiration  for  the  tall  woods  and  verdant  mead- 
ows, the  fruits  and  vines,  and  the  infinite  abundance 
of  birds  and  beasts.  We  are  informed  that  La  Salle 
was  strongly  urged  to  stop  and  settle  on  the  Strait, 
but  his  real  purpose,  not  then  disclosed,  was  to  com- 
pete with  the  Spaniards  for  the  Lower  Mississippi 
and  Gulf  Country,  and  so  early  a  break  in  his  voy- 
age was  not  to  be  thought  of. 

On  the  1 2th  of  August,  which  is  known  in  the 
Calendar  as  Ste.  Claire's  day,  they  entered  the  Lake 
formed  by  an  expansion  of  the  Strait,  and  named 
it  after  that  Saint.  Modern  geographers  have 
called  it  Lake  St.  Clair,  and  referred  its  name  to 
Patrick  Sinclair,  an  English  commander  of  the  last 
century.  Its  Huron  name  was  Otsiketa,  signifying 
sugar  or  salt,  and  probably  referring  to  the  salt 
springs  near  Clinton  River,  which  were  well  known 
in  the  earliest  days  of  the  country.1  Here  they 
were  wind-bound  for  several  days,  the  current  of 
the  upper  Strait,  (St.  Clair  River)  being  too  strong 
to  be  overcome  without  a  very  fair  breeze.  They 
finally  set  out  and  reached  Lake  Huron  on  the 
23rd.  They  were  struck  by  a  storm  a  day  or 
two  after,  probably  off  Saginaw  Bay,  and  were  for 
a  time  in  great  peril.  The  gale  abating,  they 
reached  Mackinaw    safely.     On    the    2nd    of   Sep- 

1    This   little  lake   also   had  various  names.      One  was    Lac    Ckaudiere 

(kettle)   from  its  round    shape.  On  the  Dutch  maps  it  is  called  Kandekio. 

On  some  of  the  French  maps  Ganatchio.  —  See  Maps  in  Michigan  State 
Libuxrv. 


Chap.  IV.J  FORT  AT   ST.   JOSEPH   RIVER 


39 


tember  La  Salle  left  Mackinaw,  and  after  visiting 
Green  Bay,  whence  he  despatched  the  Griffin  east- 
ward with  a  valuable  cargo  of  furs,  he  coasted 
down  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  and 
finally  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  then  called  the  River  of  the  Miamis. 
There  he  built  a  timber  fort  or  block-house  fifty  by 
eighty  feet.  He  subsequently  went  up  that  river 
and  crossed  over  to  the  Illinois  River,  and  thence 
worked  down  to  the  Mississippi. 

This  fort  does  not  appear  to  have  been  of 
much  consequence  originally,  and  there  was  never 
any  outside  settlement  of  whites  about  it.  In 
1697,  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  induce  the 
King  to  call  in  all  the  traders  from  the  North- 
west, and  destroy  the  posts,  an  exception  was 
proposed  in  favor  of  the  forts  at  Mackinaw  and 
the  River  St.  Joseph,  as  necessary  to  obstruct  the 
trade  of  the  English  and  Iroquois  with  the 
Western  and  Northern  Indians.1  A  few  years 
before  (in  1691  or  1692)  some  English  traders 
were  said  to  have  dealt  with  the  Miamis  near 
the  latter  post,2  and  Tonty,  Courtemanche,  Nicholas 
Perrot,  and  other  noted  leaders,  were  sent  up  to 
keep  the  Indians  in  the  French  interest.  When 
Charlevoix  visited  the  country  in  1721,  he  spent 
some  time  at  this  post,   which  had  then    been    re- 

1  2  Charlevoix  Hist.,  21 1-212. 

2  In  1670  some  Iroquois  reached  the  Ottawa  country  under  the  guidance 
of  Frenchmen,  on  a  political  mission.— *£  N.  Y.  Doc,  84. 


40  DtJ   LUTH. 


[Chap.  iV. 


moved     some     distance     up     the     river     into    the 
present  State  of  Indiana. 

Meanwhile  this  region,  from  its  abundance  of 
furs,  and  from  its  lying  in  the  path  of  all  who 
sought  to  deal  in  those  articles,  was  assuming 
considerable  importance.  The  coureurs  de  dots 
had  become  very  numerous,  and  there  was  great 
clamor  against  them.  The  English  in  New  York 
were  reaching  out  as  far  as  they  could  for  the 
Upper  Country  trade.  The  company  at  Quebec, 
in  order  to  prevent  beaver-smuggling,  desired  to 
exclude  all  but  their  own  servants  from  the  woods. 
We  find  constant  reference  to  Du  Luth,  De  la 
Foret,  Durantaye,  De  Lusigny,  and  other  con- 
spicuous characters,  as  not  only  active  in  explor- 
ing, but  engaged  in  unlawful  traffic.  These  men 
were  all  useful  in  defending  the  posts  and  holding 
the  savages  under  control,  and  without  them  the 
close  of  the  seventeenth  century  would  have  seen 
this  region  in  the  hands  of  the  English.  Du  Luth, 
with  great  foresight,  built  a  fort  on  the  Kam- 
inistique  River,  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  which  completely  shut  off  access  to  the 
Hudson  Bay  country  from  below,  according  to 
the  routes  then  known.  He  was  the  first  also 
to  see  the  necessity  of  fortifying  on  the  Strait. 

In  1679,  while  La  Salle  was  preparing  for  his 
journey,  the  Intendant  Duchesneau  made  bitter 
complaints  against  Frontenac  the  Governor  and 
Du  Luth,  as  concerned  together.  He  says  that 
500  or  600  brave  men  were  in  the  country   own- 


Chap.  IV.J  JEALOUSIES. 


41 


ing  Du  Luth  as  commander.1  De  Lusigny,  Du 
Luth's  brother-in-law,  was  also  charged  as  im- 
plicated. In  1680,  it  was  said  that  every  family 
had  friends  among  the  cotireurs  de  bois. 

That  year  an  amnesty  was  granted.  The 
reason  appears  in  the  increasing  pretensions  and 
incursions  of  the  Iroquois,  and  the  need  of  soldiers 
for  the  posts  on  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  to  re- 
strain them.2  In  1682,  De  la  Barre  became 
Governor,  and  his  policy  was  bold  and  active. 
Du  Luth  was  received  more  openly  into  favor, 
and  naturally  aroused  new  enmity  in  certain 
quarters.3  He  was  present  at  a  council  in  Quebec 
that  year,  and  may  have  suggested,  what  was  a 
familiar  idea  with  La  Motte  Cadillac,  that  the 
Lakes  needed  armed  vessels  to  guard  the  way  to 
the  west.  De  la  Barre  proposed  to  have  a  fleet 
stationed  on  Lake  Erie.4  He  had  a  poor  idea  of 
the  value  of  La  Salle's  explorations,  and  La  Salle 
in  turn  regarded  him  and  Du  Luth  and  De  la 
Foret  as  enemies  who  had  interfered  with  his 
interests.  La  Salle  appears  to  have  had  some 
notion  that  he  had  pre-empted  the  country. 
These  trade  jealousies  were  possibly  well  founded, 
but  they  show  how  demoralizing  the  whole  monop- 
oly system  must  have  been.  Du  Luth  was  so 
pressed  by  calumny,  that  he  went  to  France  and 
there  was  able  to  vindicate  himself  completely,  so 
that  no  more  is  heard  against  him.     On  his  return 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  131,  132,  140.  3  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  194. 

2  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  147.  4  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  196. 


42  THE    ENGLISH    AIM    AT    MACKINAW.  [Chap.  IV. 

he  assumed  the  defence  of  Mackinaw,  co-operat- 
ing with  De  la  Durantaye,  an  old  Carignan 
officer,  of  great  bravery,1  but  not  fortunate  in  his 
finances;  and  these  two  gentlemen  appear  to  have 
acted  together  in  many  enterprises,  until  the  former 
was  recalled  by  Frontenac  to  the  east.1  In  1683, 
Du  Luth  is  declared  to  be  the  only  person  who 
can  keep  the  Indians  quiet.  But  he  continued  in 
bad  odor  with  the  Company,  and  in  1684,  De  la 
Barre,  Du  Luth,  De  la  Chesnaye,  and  Deschaillons 
de  St.  Ours,  are  paraded  in  a  memoir  on  the  sup- 
pression of  beaver  smuggling  as  prime  offenders.2 
These  incessant  attacks  upon  the  best  men  in  the 
colony,  by  a  set  of  grasping  knaves  who  would 
have  had  no  country  to  prey  upon  without  them, 
are  not  edifying. 

In  1 684,  De  la  Barre,  in  recognition  of  the 
importance  of  the  route  through  Lake  Erie  and 
the  Strait,  sent  an  army  to  Mackinaw  that  way. 
About  this  time  disputes  arose  between  him  and 
Governor  Dongan  of  New  York  on  the  French 
pretensions  to  Michigan,  and  both  De  la  Barre 
and  his  successor  Denonville  had  a  sharp  corres- 
pondence with  Dongan  on  the  subject.  It  became 
evident  that  the  latter  was  stirring  up  the  Iroquois 
to  dispute  possession  with  the  French,  and  plans 
were  made  to  send  up  English  traders  and  agents 
in  the  direction  of  Mackinaw,  to  deal  with  the 
tribes    there.3       In    1686,    Denonville    directed    Du 

1  9  N.  V.  Doc,  201-2.  2  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  205. 

3  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  297.      1  La  Hontan,  78,  79.      h\.,  300. 


Chap.  IV.]  FORT  ST.  JOSEPH   ON   ST.  CLAIR   RIVER.  43 

Luth  to  fortify  the  Strait.  This  was  at  once  done, 
and  the  latter  established  a  post  ("or  castle,"  as 
it  was  termed  by  the  English  agents,)  at  the 
head  of  the  Strait,  at  or  very  near  the  present 
Fort  Gratiot.  He  began  his  work  with  a  garrison 
of  fifty  men,  well  equipped,  and  all  coureurs  dc 
bois.  This  fort  was  called  Fort  St.  Joseph.  In 
November  oY  that  year,  in  the  memoir  sent  to 
France  by  the  Governor,  he  refers  to  it  with 
great  satisfaction  as  having  turned  out  to  be  an 
important  defence.1  It  also  appears  that  Dongan 
had  given  reason  to  believe  he  would  take  meas- 
ures to  attack  it.2  Rigid  orders  were  sent  out  to 
shoot  any  Frenchman  found  among  foreign  tra- 
ders who  might  be  met  in  the  country.3 

Governor  Dongan  reports  the  fact  that  the 
French  had  built  one  or  two  wooden  forts  on  the 
way  to  the  far  Indians,  who,  he  says,  were  inclined 
to  trade  in  New  York,  because  the  French  could 
not  protect  them  from  the  Iroquois.4  But  as  the 
Iroquois  represented  to  the  English  that  they 
were  unable  to  cope  with  the  French,  and  as  the 
Mackinaw  and  other  Michigan  Indians  were  not 
disturbed  by  the  Iroquois,  this  statement  may 
pass  for  a  pretext.  The  Governor  also  informed 
his  superiors  that  he  was  about  sending  a  Scotch 
gentleman  called  McGregor  (McGregory)  to  open 
communications  with  the  distant  tribes,  adding 
(which  was  also  under    the    circumstances    a    very 

i  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  306.  3  Id.,  315. 

2  Id.,  309.  4  3  N.  Y.  Doc,  395. 


44  CAPTURE  OF  ENGLISH   PARTY.  [Chap.  IV. 

curious  statement)  that  McGregory  had  orders 
not  to  meddle  with  the  French,  and  he  hoped 
they  would  not  meddle  wTith  him. 

This  expedition,  consisting  of  sixty  English  and 
Dutch  traders  and  a  considerable  escort  of  Iro- 
quois, left  for  Mackinaw,  a  part  in  1686  and  a 
part  very  early  in  1687.  ft  was  divided  into  two 
nearly  equal  companies,  a  Dutch  trader  named 
Roseboom  going  first,  and  McGregory  following 
him  with  orders  to  take  supreme  command.  It 
does  not  appear  very  plainly  what  course  Rose- 
boom  took,  but  he  seems  to  have  got  into  Lake 
Huron  without  being  seen  from  Fort  St.  Joseph. 
The  men  who  were  with  him  stated  he  had  gone 
to  a  distance  of  a  day  and  a  half's  journey  from 
the  castle,  when  he  was  captured  by  a  force  of 
French  and  Indians.  The  capture  appears  to 
have  been  made  by  a  party  under  De  la  Duran- 
taye.1  Whether  casually  or  by  agreement,  there 
happened  at  this  very  juncture  a  remarkable 
gathering  of  distinguished  officers.  The  Chevalier 
de  Tonty,  in  April,  1687,  (after  returning  with 
orders  from  the  Governor  General,)  had  taken 
measures  to  gather  the  Indians  in  Western  Michi- 
gan and  in  the  Illinois  Country,  and  to  declare 
war  against  the  Iroquois.  La  Foret  had  gone  on 
by  way  of  the  Lakes  from  Fort  St.  Louis  with 
thirty  Frenchmen,  to  wait  at  Detroit  until  Tonty 
arrived  over-land;  and  he  reached  Fort  St.  Joseph 
at  or  about  the  same  time  when  Durantaye  came 

1  1  La  Hontan,  115. 


Chap.  IV.]  McGREGORY   TAKEN. 


45 


in  with  his  captives.  Tonty  left  Sieur  de  Belle- 
fontaine  to  command  at  the  fort  on  St.  Joseph 
River,  and  came  across  Michigan  with  150  Illinois 
Indians,  arriving  at  "  Fort  Detroit"  on  the  19th 
of  May.  He  remained  at  this  point,  which  was 
the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Detroit,  and  sent 
up  word  of  his  coming  to  his  cousin  Du  Luth  at 
Fort  St.  Joseph.  In  a  few  days  he  was  joined  by 
Beauvais  de  Tilly  for  more  properly  Tilly  de 
Beauvais)1  and  soon  after  by  La  Foret,  who  was 
followed  by  Durantaye  and  Du  Luth  with  their 
prisoners.  They  joined  forces  and  went  down 
Lake  Erie  in  canoes,  and  on  their  way  captured 
McGregory  with  thirty  Englishmen  and  some 
allied  Indians,  and  some  French  and  Indian  cap- 
tives. The  depositions  of  McGregory's  party  state 
that  the  French  party  consisted  of  1500.  The 
Governor's  report  puts  them  at  400.  Tonty  does 
not  mention  the  number.  They  were  going  to 
Niagara,  expecting  to  fight  the  Iroquois,2  and  the 
officers  who  were  engaged  were  the  prominent 
leaders  of  the  Northwest.3  A  large  amount  of 
booty  was  captured  with  the  two  companies. 
Tonty  who  was  senior  in  command  sent  forward 
La  Foret  to  report  to  the  Governor,  and  he 
reached  Frontenac,  where  the  Governor  was  in 
camp,  about  the  end  of  June.  The  army  from 
below  joined  the  Western  forces  at  a  point  on 
the    south    shore    of    Lake    Ontario,    where    they 

1  1  La.  Doc,  69.  3  3  N.  Y.  Doc,  436. 

2  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  332. 


46  SENECA   CAMPAIGN 


[Chap.   IV. 


built  a  fort  known  as  Fort  les  Sables.  Here 
they  shot  a  Frenchman  named  Lafontaine  Marion, 
(according  to  La  Hontan,  —  Abel  Marion  in  the 
depositions),  who  was  acting  as  guide  to  the 
English  company.1  La  Hontan  refers  to  this  with 
some  indignation  as  an  act  of  cruelty,  the  trade 
regulations  giving  no  chance  to  get  a  living  in 
the  colony,  and  there  being  peace  with  the 
English.2  After  a  short  but  sharp  campaign  in 
the  Seneca  country,  the  troops  returned  to  the 
fort,  and  Tonty  and  Du  Luth  went  homeward 
accompanied  by  Baron  La  Hontan,  who  was  sent 
up  to  take  command  at  Fort  St.  Joseph,  Du  Luth 
being  needed  elsewhere.  Tonty  left  the  others  at 
this  fort,  and  went  on  with  Father  Crevier  to  Mack- 
inaw,3 and  thence  to  his  own  Fort  St.  Louis. 
Here  Tonty  found  the  brother  of  La  Salle,  Cav- 
elier,  with  the  rest  of  his  company  on  their  way 
eastward.  To  him  as  to  others  they  said  La 
Salle  was  living ;  and  Cavelier  committed  a  gross 
fraud  on  Tonty,  by  obtaining  a  considerable  ad- 
vance on  his  brother's  credit. 

On  the  way  up  from  Niagara,  and  near  Buffalo, 
Tonty  and  his  companions  met  a  brother  of  Du 
Luth,  Grisolon  de  la  Tourette,  who  is  said  by  La 
Hontan  to  have  come  down  from  Mackinaw  to 
join  the  army,  having  but  one  canoe;4  and  the 
Baron  speaks  of  his  rashness  in  running  such  a 
risk  when  the  Iroquois  were  hostile.     This  gentle- 

1  3  N.  Y.  Doc,  430,  436..  3  La  Hontan,  126,  134      1  La.  Doc  ,  70 

2  1  La  Hontan,  117.  4  La  Hontan,    128 


Chap.  IV.]  GR1SOLON    DE   LA   TOURETTE.  47 

man's  name  is  not  generally  found  in  the  histories. 
Great  confusion  has  arisen  from  the  fact  that  some 
times  the  family  name  is  used,  and  sometimes 
other  titles,  and  they  are  occasionally  reversed 
so  that  the  family  name  is  made  to  represent  the 
estate.  Du  Luth's  family  name  was  Grisolon,  and 
La  Hontan  speaks  of  him  as  a  gentleman  from 
Lyons.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Tonty,  who  as  already 
mentioned  was  of  Italian  extraction.  Charlevoix 
mentions  as  connected  with  La  Foret  and  Tonty, 
and  as  having  been  long  and  honorably  employed 
in  the  Illinois  country,  and  as  having  great  influ- 
ence over  the  Indians,  the  Sieur  Delietto,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  a  cousin  of  Tonty.1  This  men- 
tion is  late  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was 
near  its  close.  The  similarity  of  name  to  Du 
Luth  and  the  same  relationship  to  Tonty,  give 
rise  to  a  query  whether  there  may  not  have  been 
some  confusion  between  the  Grisolons,  and  whether 
this  name  may  not  belong  to  one  of  them.  The 
only  other  reference  in  Charlevoix  to  any  Delietto 
is  found  in  the  statement  of  the  valuable  services 
rendered  by  a  post  commander  of  that  name  sev- 
eral years  after,  in  obtaining  from  the  Head  Chief 
of  the  Natchez  the  surrender  of  a  brother  who 
had  been  very  troublesome  to  the  French.2  This 
officer  died  in  1722,  a  long  time  after  Daniel 
Grisolon  du  Luth,  whose  death  occurred  in    1 709.3 

1  2  Charlevoix  H.,  265.  2  2  Charlevoix  II.,  4(0. 

3"  Parkman's  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  254,  note. 

A  name  which  belongs  to  one  of  these  persons  is  given  variously  as 
Deliatto,  Deslietten  and  Deliette.  The  name  DeSiette  in  the  Wisconsin 
collection  is  evidently  a  misprint  of    DeLiette. — 3  Wis.  His.  Socy  Col ,  148. 


48  TERRITORIAL   DISPUTES.  [Chap.  IV. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  any  of  those  brave 
men  should  drop  out  of  history.  Their  services 
were  brilliant,  and  their  personal  merits  were  such 
as  in  most  countries  would  have  marked  them 
among  the  paladins. 

This  assertion  of  dominion  over  the  Strait  by 
the  French  had  important  results.  An  acrimoni- 
ous correspondence  followed  between  the  Canadian 
and  New  York  Governors,1  and  Governor  Dongan 
and  the  Iroquois  had  various  discussions  as  to 
which  of  them  should  pull  the  chestnuts  out  of  the 
fire,  each  being  anxious  that  the  other  should  dis- 
lodge the  French.  The  Iroquois  urged  strenuously 
that  the  Governor  should  remove  the  French  from 
Niagara,  Cataraqui,  and  Tyschsarondia,  "  which  is 
the  place  where  wee  goe  a  bever  huntinge,  for.  if 
those  forts  continue  in  French  hands  wee  are 
always  besieged."2 

The  French  Governor  refused  to  release 
McGregory  and  his  associates  until  finally  ordered 
to  do  so  by  the  home  authorities,  in  October, 
1687.  It  became  evident  that  sooner  or  later 
there  would  be  a  struggle  for  the  country,  unless 
precluded  by  secure   possession. 

Up  to  this  time  no  fort  or  post  in  Michigan 
had  any  French  farming  population  about  it. 
Mackinaw  was  the  great  centre,  but  here  the 
coureurs  de  bois,  who  frequented  and  garrisoned 
the  post,  had  their  own  stronghold  and  stores  on 

1  3  N.  Y.  Doc,  436,  532,  536,  905,  906,  2  3  N,  Y.  Doc,  536 


Chap.  IV.J  FORT  ST.  JOSEPH  BURNED.  49 

the  Island,  which  was  uncultivated.1  After  that 
post  was  founded,  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas  settled 
near  it,  and  contrary  to  the  modern  theories  of 
our  Indian  hating  statesmen,  the  civilized  men  de- 
pended for  their  supplies  on  the  barbarians.  The 
Ottawas  both  at  Mackinaw  and  Detroit,  as  late  as 
Pontiac's  time,  paid  some  attention  to  agriculture. 
The  Hurons  raised  much  more  than  they  needed 
for  themselves,  and  supplied  their  neighbors ; 
and  Charlevoix  gives  them  credit  not  only  for 
being  diligent  farmers,  but  for  the  civilized  quality 
of  knowing  how  to  get  a  fair  price  for  their 
surplus  stores.2  Baron  La  Hontan  was  obliged 
to  go  to  Mackinaw  in  the  spring  of  1688,  to 
purchase  provisions  for  his  fort  from  the  Indians 
there.3 

It  was  soon  discovered  that  Fort  St.  Joseph 
might  be  dispensed  with,  and  it  was  burned  by 
La  Hontan  in  1688.4  The  Fort  at  Detroit,  which 
was  afterwards  put  on  the  footing  of  a  settle- 
ment, continued  as  a  military  post  until  1701. 
References  are  made  to  the  policy  of  continuing 
it  in  1689  and  1 69 1  ;  and  in  1700  M.  de  Longueuil 
was  in  command,  and  held  an  important  council 
with  the  Indians.5  It  was  probably  nothing  more 
than  a  block-house,  and  may  have  been  at  times 
unoccupied. 

1  La  Hontan,  144-5.     Charlevoix,  Letter  19. 

2  Letter  17.  4  La  Hontan,  171. 

3  La  Hontan,   139.  5  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  399,  $11,  647,  704,  713. 

4 


50 


LA  MOTTE  CADILLAC.  [Chap.  IV. 


In  1692  La  Motte  Cadillac,  who  had  become 
a  man  of  note  among  the  colonists,  and  who  had 
devised  intelligent  plans  for  commanding  the 
country  by  fleets  as  well  as  forts,  was  sent  to 
France  to  give  his  views  to  the  King  and  his 
ministers.1  On  his  return  he  assumed  an  import- 
ant place  in  the  management  of  western  affairs. 
In  his  memoir  on  Iroquois  affairs,  in  1694,2  he 
vindicated  the  coureurs  de  dois,  and  was  severe 
on  their  maligners,  whom  he  charged  with  giving 
false  statements  of  fact  concerning  Mackinaw  and 
other  matters.  He  was  very  influential  among 
the  Indians,  and  in  1 695.  especial  mention  is  made 
of  his  good  qualities,  and  of  his  shrewdness  in 
Indian  affairs.  Frontenac,  who  at  this  period  was 
Governor,  and  who  had  returned  in  that  capacity 
in  1689,  was  m  sympathy  with  him.  But  at  this 
time  the  war  against  the  traders  was  very 
warmly  pushed  by  the  missionaries,  and  they 
procured  an  order  from  France  to  have  the 
military  post  of  Mackinaw  and  all  others  but 
Fort  St.  Louis  abandoned.  Frontenac,  however, 
prevented  this,  but  the  trade  in  furs  was  more 
rigidly  confined  to  licensed  traders,  and  the 
Canada  Company.  Twenty-five  licenses  were 
granted  yearly,  mostly  to  widows  and  orphans 
of  deserving  persons,  who  sold  them  to  traders.3 
These  allowed  goods  of  a  certain  amount  and 
value   to   be   carried   into   the   Indian   country,   and 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  530,  543,  546,  549.  3  Charlevoix,  Letter  4. 

2  Id.,  577. 


Chap.  IV.J  PLANS  FOR  HOLDING  DETROIT.  51 

bartered  or  sold  to  the  Indians ;  and  the  profits 
were  very  great.  Special  permissions  were  given 
to  post  commanders  and  others,  and  the  licenses 
were  extended  liberally  so  as  to  give  the  owner 
opportunities  for  extensive  traffic.  The  war  with 
England  (declared  in  the  spring  of  1689,  anc^ 
not  ended  until  the  Treaty  of  Ryswick,  in  1697,) 
suspended  the  operations  of  the  English  in  the 
Northwest,  and  confined  the  more  severe  hostilities 
to   the   regions   further  east. 

As  soon,  however,  as  the  peace  was  declared, 
under  the  pretext  that  the  Western  Lake  Coun- 
try was  not  really  French  territory,  the  New  York 
authorities  began  to  lay  plans  for  getting  into 
possession.  In  1699,  Robert  Livingston  laid 
before  Lord  Bellomont  a  project  for  taking  pos- 
session of  Detroit.  He  proposed  sending  200 
Christians,  and  300  or  400  Indians  of  the  Five 
Nations,  "to  make  a  fort  at  a  place  called 
Wawijachtenok  [  Waiveatanong,  the  name*  of  Detroit 
in  the  Chippewa  tongue,]  where  a  party  of 
Christians  are  to  be  left,  being  a  place  plenty 
of  provisions,  many  wild  beasts  using  there,"  etc. 
He  remarks  on  the  disposition  of  the  French  to 
claim   everything.1 

In  the  same  year  La  Motte  Cadillac  first 
proposed  to  the  French  Government  to  make  a 
settlement  for  habitation  at  the  same  place.2 
He   did   not  immediately   succeed. 

1  4  N.  Y.  Doc,  501. 

2  Conversation  with  Count  Pontchartrain. — Sheldon,  143. 


52  DETROIT  TO  BE  SECURED.  [Chaf.  IV. 

In  1700  Livingston  renewed  his  project  more 
earnestly.  He  declares  that  we  "  can  never  ran- 
counter  the  French  unless  we  have  bushlopers  as 
well  as  they."  He  then  points  out  the  course  to 
be  pursued.  "  To  build  a  fort  at  Wawyachtenok, 
cal'd  by  the  French  De  Troett,  the  most  pleasant 
and  plentiful  inland  place  in  America  by  all  rela- 
tion, where  there  is  arable  land  for  thousands  of 
people,  the  only  place  of  bever  hunting  for  which 
our  Indians  have  fought  so  long  and  at  last  forced 
the  nations  to  fly.  Here  you  have  millions  of 
elks,  bevers,  swans,  geese,  and  all  sorts  of  fowl. 
The  fort  to  be  between  Sweege  Lake  and  Otta- 
wawa1  Lake,  which  place  lyeth  by  computation 
southwest  from  Albany  seven  hundred  and  forty- 
four  miles,  viz :  From  Albany  to  Terindequat  at 
the  Lake  of  Cadaraqui  four  hundred  miles,  from 
thence  to  Onyagara  where  the  great  fall  is 
eighty  miles,  from  thence  to  the  beginning  of 
Sweege  Lake  forty  miles,  and  from  the  Sweege 
Lake  to  the  place  called  Sweege,  being  a  creek 
which  comes  into  Sweege  Lake,  sixty-four  miles, 
and  from  thence  to  Wawyachtenok  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles,"  etc.2 

La  Motte  Cadillac,  finding  his  scheme  likely  to 
fail,  went  to  France  and  laid  his  plans  before 
Count  Pontchartrain.  His  conversation  was  re- 
duced to  writing,  and  copied,  with  other  documents, 
for  General  Cass,  from  the  French  archives.     The 

1  Huron.  ?  4  N.  Y.  Doc,  650. 


Chat.  IV.]  CADILLAC'S   PLANS. 


53 


interesting   work    of    Mrs.    Sheldon    on    the    Early 
History  of  Michigan  copies  it  at  length.1 

His  object  was,  in  the  first  place  to  make  it  a 
permanent  post,  not  subject  to  frequent  changes; 
—  (the  official  documents  show  that  previous  posts 
on  the  Strait  had  been  subject  to  these  mutations.) 
To  secure  permanence  it  was  necessary  to  have 
numerous  Frenchmen,  both  traders  and  soldiers, 
and  to  induce  the  friendly  Indians  to  gather 
around  it,  and  so  become  able  to  meet  the  Iro- 
quois with  less  difficulty.  He  pointed  out  the  fact 
that  as  this  was  the  only  way  to  the  fur  country, 
it  would  intercept  the  English  trade,  and  by  pla- 
cing the  post  at  Detroit  it  would  open  a  trade 
further  to  the  southwest  than  could  be  reached 
from    above. 

The  Minister  at  the  close  informed  him  that  he 
should  have  200  men  of  different  trades,  and  six 
companies  of  soldiers.  The  common  accounts  say 
that  with  his  commission  as  commandant,  which  he 
received  directly  from  the  Crown,  and  not  from 
the  Governor,  he  obtained  a  grant  of  fifteen  acres 
square,  at  whatever  point  the  new  fort  should  be 
located.  This  grant  has  not  yet  been  printed.  It 
is  certain  that  he  had  a  much  larger  grant  at 
some  time,  but  this  may  have  been  the  first. 

La  Motte  Cadillac  reached  Quebec,  on  his  re- 
turn from  France,  on  the  8th  of  March,  1701.  He 
left  for  his  new  post  on  the  5th  of  June,   with  50 

*  p.  85. 


54  FORT  PONTCttARTRAlN.  [Cha*-.  IV. 

soldiers  and  50  artisans  and  tradesmen,  the  younger 
Tonty  accompanying  him  as  captain,  and  Dugue 
and  Chacornacle  as  lieutenants.  A  Jesuit  missi- 
onary to  the  Indians  and  a  Recollet  chaplain  for 
the  French  were  also  in  the  company.  They 
reached  Detroit  on  the  24th  of  July,   1701. 

The  fort  which  was  then  commenced  was  called 
Fort  Pontchartrain,  after  the  friendly  minister  who 
had  favored  it,  and  bore  that  name  until  changed 
after  the  British  conquest. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  of 
Michigan,  for  purposes  of  habitation  and  civil 
institutions. 


CHAPTER    V. 

DETROIT    UNDER     LA     MOTTE     CADILLAC. 

About  the  time  of  La  Motte  Cadillac's  return, 
and  when  Callieres,  the  Governor  General,  was 
expecting  to  carry  out  his  instructions  concerning 
the  founding  of  Detroit,  he  held  a  council  at 
Montreal  with  a  deputation  of  Iroquois  for  the 
peaceful  settlement  of  some  complaints,  and  they 
departed  in  good  humor.  But  in  June,  the  Chief 
Sachem  of  the  Onondagas,  Teganissorens,  returned 
with  other  chiefs,  and  complained  that  it  was 
unfair  to  build  a  fort  at  Tidghsaghrondy  before 
he  acquainted  them  therewith.1 

It  appeared  from  the  Chiefs  statements,  that 
the  English  had  been  negotiating  with  the  Iroquois 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  fort  in  the  same 
place,  but  the  Chief  claimed  the  Indians  had 
objected  and  refused  consent.  The  Governor  had 
in  some  way  been  informed  of  the  designs  of  the 
English,  which  were  set  forth  in  Livingston's 
manifesto,  and  it  may  have  hastened  the  French 
action.  La  Motte  Cadillac  had  seen  the  necessity 
of    promptness.      Callieres      answered      by      com- 

«  4  N.  Y.  Doc,  891. 


56  IROQUOIS  CESSION.  [Chap.  V. 

mending'  their  refusal  to  the  English  to  allow 
them  to  usurp  a  country  which  was  not  theirs, 
but  said  he  was  master  of  his  own  country, 
although  he  only  desired  to  use  his  rights  for  the 
benefit  of  his  children ;  and  while  ill-disposed 
persons  might  object,  the  Indians  would  one  day 
thank  him  for  what  he  had  done.  Teganissorens 
made  no  direct  reply  to  this,  but  said  the  English 
would  find  it  out,  and  he  hoped,  in  case  of  war 
between  French  and  English,  their  tribes  might 
not  be  embroiled.  Callieres  replied  that  he  did 
not  expect  the  English  to  do  anything  but  oppose 
it,  and  all  he  asked  of  the  tribes  was  neutrality. 
This  the  Chief  agreed  to.1 

In  July,  and  before  La  Motte  Cadillac's  arrival, 
the  Iroquois  held  a  conference  with  the  New  York 
authorities,  in  which  they  said  they  would  be  glad 
to  remove  the  end  of  the  chain  of  friendship  to 
Tiochsaghrorjdie  or  Wawyachtenok,  if  in  their 
power,  but  the  French  would  mock  at  it,  for  these 
had  taken  it  in  possession  against  their  wills  ;  and 
that  they  had  no  power  to  resist  such  a  Christian 
enemy.2 

On  the  19th  of  July,  1701,  the  Iroquois  con- 
veyed to  King  William  III.  all  their  claims  to  lands 
in  the  west,  and  described  the  country  granted  as 
covering  "  that  vast  tract  of  land  or  colony  called 
Canagariarchio,  beginning  on  the  northwest  side  of 
Cadarachqui  Lake,3  and  includes  all  that  vast  tract 

1  1  Charlevoix,  270.  3  Ontario. 

2  4  N.  Y.  Doc,  905-6. 


Chap.  V.]  IROQUOIS   CLAIMS^  57 

of  land  lying  between  the  great  Lake  of  Ottawawa1 
and  the  lake  called  by  the  natives  Sahiquage,  and 
by  the  Christians  the  Lake  of  Sweege,  and  runns 
till  it  butts  upon  the  Twichtwichs,  and  is  bounded 
on  the  westward  by  the  Twichtwichs  by  a  place 
called  Quadoge,  containing  in  length  about  800 
miles  and  in  breadth  400  miles,  including  the 
country  where  beavers  and  all  sorts  of  wild  game 
keeps,  and  the  place  called  Tjeughsaghrondie  alias 
Fort  De  Tret  or  Wawyachtenock,  and  so  runns 
round  the  Lake  of  Sweege  till  you  come  to  a  place 
called  Oniadarundaquat,"  etc.2 

Reference  is  made  to  "  a  place  called  Tjeuch- 
saghronde,  the  principall  pass  that  commands  said 
land."  And  this  word  is  also  used  as  one  of  the 
boundaries    in  another  description  of   the  country. 

These  names  of  the  three  great  lakes  are  not 
often  found  on  maps,  but  in  the  Iroquois  negoti- 
ations no  others  are  used.  Some  French  maps 
call  Lake  Erie  Oswego,  and  it  is  called  Ochswego 
in  the  New  York  documents.3 

The  Iroquois  claimed  seriously  the  right  to 
Upper  Canada,  but  do  not  seem  to  have  had  ter- 
ritorial claims  in  Michigan.  The  complaint  in 
McGregory's  case  was  that  they  and  the  English 
had  a  right  to  trade  with  the  Indians  inhabiting 
this  region  —  chiefly  Hurons  and  Ottawas, —  not 
that  the  country  belonged  to  the  Iroquois.  Their 
objection    to    the    forts    on   Lake  Ontario,  Niagara 

*  Huron.  3  5  N.  Y.  Doc,  694. 

2  4  N.  Y.  Doc,  908  and  seq. 


58  WATER  HIGHWAYS.  [Chap.  V. 

and  Detroit,  was  that  these  commanded  their  beaver 
country,  by  covering  the  passes  by  which  alone  it 
was  reached. 

It  is  within  the  recollection  of  many  persons 
now  living,  that  no  carrying  of  goods  to  any  large 
amount  was  possible  except  by  water.  The  furs 
were  all  taken  back  and  forth  in  canoes,  until  in 
very  recent  times  bateaux  and  Mackinaw  boats 
were  substituted.  The  journey  to  Montreal  and 
Quebec  from  Michigan  was  commonly  made 
through  Lake  Huron,  Georgian  Bay  and  the 
Ottawa  River,  or  occasionally  through  other  streams 
leading  to  Lake  Ontario  from  the  north.  The 
way  through  Lake  Erie  and  round  Niagara  Falls 
was  the  most  direct  way  to  New  York,  and  was 
the  only  convenient  path  for  the  Iroquois ;  and 
the  Strait  was  the  key  to  the  whole,  as  at  Detroit 
it  was  but  about  half  a  mile  wide,  with  a  view  of 
some  two  miles  above,  and  the  same  distance 
below,  entirely  unobstructed  by  islands  or  marshes. 

Tn  a  memoir  concerning  the  Indians  made  in 
1 718,  and  found  in  the  Department  of  the  Marine, 
is  a  full  description  of  the  Strait  and  its  islands. 
It  is  there  stated  that  it  was  a  long  time  doubtful 
whether  Detroit  should  not  be  founded  at  Grosse 
He.1  The  cause  of  the  hesitation  was  the  appre- 
hension that  the  timber  might  some  day  fail. 
During  the  present  century  that  island  has  been 
remarkable  for  the  extent  and  beauty  of  its  forest 
timber,    but    most    of   it    was    second  growth,    and 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  886. 


Chap.  V.]  CADILLAC  BUILDS  HIS  FORT.  59 

probably  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  the 
land  may  not  have  been  densely  wooded.  The 
same  memoir  speaks  with  surprise  of  the  multitude 
and  size  of  the  apples.  These  were  probably 
crab-apples  which  were  abundant,  and  existed  in 
different  varieties.  The  translator  must  have  been 
in  error  in  making  them  as  large  as  pippins. 
The  term  used  in  the  original  would  seem  to  be 
pommes  d'api,  or  lady-apples,  which  do  not  always 
exceed  in  size  large  crab-apples. 

Bois-blanc  Island,  near  the  Canadian  shore  at 
Maiden,  was  in  after  times  regarded  as  a  more 
important  point,  as  it  commanded  the  deepest 
channel  and  an  unobstructed  view  of  all  the  lake 
entrance  south  and  eastward,  whereas  near  Grosse 
He  the  channel  is  broken  by  small  islands.  The 
Island  of  Bois-blanc,  formerly  beautifully  wooded, 
was  completely  denuded  of  trees  for  purposes  of 
military  observation,  during  the  so-called  Patriot 
War  of   1838. 

Immediately  on  his  arrival  La  Motte  Cadillac 
enclosed  his  proposed  fort  by  a  stockade  of  a 
few  acres,  probably  not  over  three  or  four,  and 
perhaps  less.  It  stood  on  what  was  formerly 
called  the  first  terrace,  being  on  the  ground  lying 
between  Larned  street  and  the  river,  and  between 
Griswold  and  Wayne  streets.  The  ground  was 
higher  further  back  from  the  water,  and  the  bank 
westward  was  also  higher.  But  the  point  selected 
was  opposite  the  narrowest  part  of  the  river  or 
strait,    and    high    enough    to  command    everything 


60  THE  OLD  TOWN   OF   DETROIT.  [Chap.  V. 

within  range.  The  fort  proper,  without  the  bas- 
tions, was  one  arpent  square,  and  stood  at  the 
edge  of  the  slope.  If,  as  is  probable,  the  plan 
of  the  settlement  within  the  stockade  was  the  same 
as  subsequently,  there  is  little  difficulty  in  finding 
out  its  general  appearance.  There  was  a  road 
running  about  the  enclosure  within  the  defences 
called  the  Chemin  du  Ronde,  which  appears  from 
.descriptions  in  conveyances  to  have  been  twelve 
feet  wide.  The  other  streets  could  not  have  been 
wider,  and  some,  mentioned  as  little  streets,  were 
probably  very  narrow.  In  1778,  there  were  one 
twenty  foot  street  and  six  fifteen  foot  streets ;  but 
these  were  laid  out  later.  The  older  streets  in 
Quebec  may  have  resembled  them.  The  lots 
did  not  exceed  twenty-five  feet  by  thirty  or  forty, 
and  were  often  smaller.  M.  De  Bellestre,  the 
last  Commander  under  the  French,  purchased  two 
lots  together,  not  very  long  before  the  surrender, 
which  were  apparently  very  eligible  property,  the 
combined  size  of  which  was  thirty  feet  by  fifty-four, 
and  this  property  extended  from  street  to  street. 
On  the  river  side  of  the  fort,  the  ground  de- 
scended quite  sharply,  leaving  a  small  space  of 
level  ground  near  the  water  about  forty  feet  wide, 
which  was  in  process  of  time  divided  into  lots. 
The  domain  outside  of  the  fort,  being  somewhat 
more  than  half  a  mile  in  width,  was  used  partly 
by  La  Motte  Cadillac  for  his  own  purposes,  and 
partly  rented  in  parcels  of  a  fourth  of  an  arpent 
in  width  by  five  arpents    in    depth.      A    part   was 


Chap.  V.J  OMISSIONS  OF  EARLY  WRITERS.  61 

at  one  time  occupied  by  an  Indian  village.  After 
the  domain  was  revested  in  the  Crown,  it  was 
used  for  a  common,  and  other  purposes  of  con- 
venience. But  for  a  few  years  after  the  settle- 
ment, the  cultivated  grounds  of  the  French  were 
all  within  the  domain,  and  within  a  hundred  rods 
of  the  fort. 

The  writers  who  describe  this  region  in  early 
times  were  very  deficient  in  that  habit  of  minute 
description  which  is  so  valuable  afterwards  in 
forming  an  idea  of  the  domestic  ways  of  the 
people.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate  whether 
there  were  cattle  or  draft  animals  of  any  kind. 
As  all  the  expeditions  from  the  east  were  by 
water,  neither  horses  nor  cattle  could  have  been 
brought  from  that  quarter,  as  after  the  loss  of  the 
Griffin  there  were  no  large  boats  used  for  a  long 
time.  There  is,  however,  in  a  spiteful  report  of 
M.  Aigremont,  made  in  1708,  a  passage  bearing 
on  this  subject.  He  says  "  La  Motte  required  of 
a  blacksmith  named  Parent,  for  permission  to  work 
at  his  trade,  the  sum  of  six  hundred  francs  and 
two  hogsheads  of  ale,  and  the  obligation  to  shoe 
all  the  horses  of  M.  La  Motte,  whatever  number 
he  may  have,  though  at  present  he  keeps  but 
one."1  It  is  probable  the  horses  found  in  this 
region  at  that  time  came  from  the  southwest,  and 
were  a  distinct  breed  from  those  afterwards  in- 
troduced from  below. 

1  Sheldon,  281. 


62  HOUSES  AT  DETROIT.  [Chap.  V. 

Aigremont  speaks  also  somewhat  contemptu- 
ously of  the  small  thatched  log  houses  of  the  settlers 
within  the  walls ;  and  it  has  been  hastily  assumed 
that  this  was  the  character  of  all  the  buildings. 
But  there  is  evidence  to  the  contrary,  and  it  is 
apparent  that  there  were  competent  mechanics  and 
a  demand  for  them.  La  Motte  Cadillac,  in  1703, 
had  already  under  orders  from  Quebec,  built  a 
house  of  oak  for  the  Huron  Chief,  forty  feet  wide 
by  twenty-four  feet  deep,1  on  an  eminence  by  the 
river  overlooking  the  Huron  village,  because  he 
desired  to  live  like  a  Frenchman.  This  was  cer- 
tainly a  spacious  and  respectable  building ;  and 
from  the  landmarks  may  have  occupied  the 
beautiful  spot  formerly  the  homestead  of  General 
Cass,  before  the  high  aitd  shaded  terrace  was  cut 
down  and  graded.  It  is  not  likely  the  proud 
commander  would  have  allowed  the  chief  to 
possess  a  finer  house  than  his  own.  It  is  supposed 
and  said  to  be  known  that  La  Motte's  own  house 
occupied  the  same  foundation  that,  after  the  great 
fire  of  1805,  was  rebuilt  upon  by  Joseph  Campau, 
still  remaining  as  one  of  the  oldest  landmarks 
within  the  present  city  limits  of  Detroit.  Mention 
has  before  been  made  of  the  carved  work  of  the 
early  artisans.  The  same  company  that  built  the 
Griffin  erected  at  the  St.  Joseph's  River  a  building 
so  large  as  to  demand  considerable  skill.  The 
edifices  afterwards  erected  within  Fort  Pont- 
chartrain,    when    there    is    no    reason    to    suppose 

1  Sheldon,  in. 


Chap.  V.]  INDIANS  AT   DETROIT.  63 

materials  or  labor  were  more  abundant,  were 
beyond  doubt  well  made  and  expensive.  The 
purchase  before  referred  to  by  M.  Bellestre,  was 
made  in  1760  of  one  Vernet,  who  was  a  cutler 
as  well  as  smith,  and  it  was  certified  by  Bellestre 
to  have  cost  him  12,000  livres.1  This  if  counted 
as  livres  parisis  would  have  been  3,000  dollars, 
and  if  livres  toumois  2,500  dollars,  a  very  con- 
siderable sum  in  those  days.  The  instrument  of 
purchase  included  not  only  the  lots  and  buildings 
referred  to,  but  Vernet's  stock  in  trade,  and  his 
bill  for  building  Bellestre's  own  dwelling;  and  the 
whole  consideration  was  30,000  livres,  or  from 
6,000  to  7,500  dollars,  equivalent  to  more  than 
double  that  sum  now,  and  with  the  low  prices  of 
labor  in  those  days  probably  going  much  further.2 

La  Motte's  first  care  was  to  gather  the  Indians 
about  him  and  retain  them  near  his  fort.  In  this 
he  was  very  successful,  very  much  to  the  wrath 
of  the  Fathers  at  Mackinaw,  as  the  Hurons  and 
most  of  the  other  Indians  at  that  post  emigrated 
to  Detroit.  La  Motte,  who  had  a  standing  feud 
with  the  Jesuits,  for  what  he  claimed  to  be  un- 
authorized interference  with  his  interests  and  with 
the  royal  wishes,  wrote  exultingly  and  a  little  mal- 

1  County  Records,  BM  128  and  seq. 

2  All  houses  were  probably  made  of  timber  until  long  after  the  laying 
out  of  the  new  town,  except  two  or  three  of  brick  or  stone,  and  some  barrack- 
like-buildings of  rough  cast.  Timber  was  cheap,  round  or  hewed,  and  made 
warm  and  durable  hofises ;  and  until  saw-mills  were  introduced,  and  boards 
and  shingles  readily  obtainable,  log  or  block  houses  roofed  with  thatch  were 
very  common  in  this  region,  and  are  not  unknown  now. 


64  INDIAN   POLICY.  [Chap.  V. 

iciously  to  Count  Pontchartrain,  in  August,  1703, 
giving  an  account  of  the  actual  and  promised  ac- 
cessions to  his  settlement,  in  which  he  says : 
"  Thirty  Hurons  of  Michilimackinac  arrived  here 
on  the  28th  of  June,  to  unite  themselves  with  those 
already  established  here.  There  remain  only  about 
twenty -five  at  Michilimackinac.  Father  Carheil, 
who  is  missionary  there,  remains  always  firm.  I 
hope,  this  fall,  to  pluck  out  the  last  feather  of  his 
wing,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  this  obstinate  old 
priest  will  die  in  his  parish,  without  having  a  single 
parishioner  to  bury  him." 

Father  Carheil  was  a  devoted  and  good  man, 
and  his  zeal  for  the  preservation  of  the  Indians 
from  demoralizing  influences  was  commendable, 
and  in  some  degree  efficacious. 

It  has  not,  however,  been  sufficiently  noticed 
that  La  Motte's  deserved  reputation,  (which  in  spite 
of  his  impetuosity  always  in  the  long  run  secured 
him  the  confidence  of  the  King  and  his  ministers, 
as  well  as  of  the  Indians,)  rested  largely  on  his 
freedom  from  the  reckless  disregard  shown  by  some 
persons  for  the  welfare  of  the  Indians.  In  a  letter 
written  while  at  Mackinaw,  in  1695,  in  which  he 
criticised  a  very  excellent  and  wise  prohibition  of 
the  sale  of  brandy,  there  are  expressions  which 
might  seem  to  indicate  that  he  cared  very  little 
about  them  or  their  fate.  (He  mentions — by  the 
way  — a  very  remarkable  fact,  if  it  be  true,  that 
the  Sioux  would  not  touch  brandy  and  greatly 
disliked  it.)     When  he  had  the  responsibility  of  his 


Chap.  V.l  TEMPERANCE  REGULATIONS. 


65 


own  settlement  upon  his  hands  he  manifested  a 
spirit  very  rare  in  those  days,  and  which  in  turn 
subjected  him  to  the  same  criticism  which  he  had 
indulged  in  towards  the  government.  M.  Aigre- 
mont,  who  lost  no  chance  of  fault-finding,  charges 
La  Motte  with  endeavoring  to  prevent  disturbances 
from  the  excessive  use  of  brandy,  by  putting  it 
all  in  one  storehouse  and  selling  it  at  an  exor- 
bitant rate,  allowing  no  one  to  drink  except  at 
the  depot,  and  allowing  no  one  to  have  more  than 
one  drink  of  the  twenty  -  fourth  part  of  a  quart. 
M.  Aigremont  complains  not  only  that  no  one  could 
get  drunk  on  such  a  quantity,  but  that,  as  each 
had  to  take  his  turn,  sometimes  the  Indians  had 
to  go  home  without  getting  even  a  taste.  La  Motte 
was,  in  this,  wise  beyond  his  generation.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  the  traders  of  Detroit  in 
1775  resorted  to  a  very  similar  expedient,  to  pre- 
vent drunkenness  and  keep  spirits  away  from  the 
Indians.1 

It  appears  that  in  the  first  instance  the  pro- 
prietary rights  of  La  Motte  Cadillac  were  not  very 
extensive.  The  commission  given  him  in  1700 
has  not  been  printed.  But  there  was  evidently 
some  right  of  trading,  though  not  in  such  furs  as 
were  within  the  monopoly.  His  powers  as  a  mil- 
itary commander  over  all  in  the  post  seem,  from 
incidental  references,  to  have  been  plenary  and 
exclusive. 

1  Record  A.,  337. 

5 


66  CADILLAC  INTERFERED  WITH.  [Chap.  V. 

The  Canada  Company  procured,  before  the 
first  year  was  over,  from  the  Governor  and 
Intendant,  authority  to  assume  exclusive  charge  of 
the  fur  and  peltry  traffic.  How  far  this  was 
authorized  by  the  King  is  not  evident.  But  within 
the  next  two  or  three  years  new  arrangements 
were  made  to  which  Cadillac  was  a  party,  which 
gave  him  a  certain  oversight  in  the  business, 
though  not  any  control  over  its  details,  which 
were  in  charge  of  agents. 

The  Commandant  had  constant  difficulties  with 
these  men,  and  was  annoyed  by  very  active 
enemies.  The  purpose  of  his  settlement  was  to 
found  a  town  of  French  artisans  and  other  civilians, 
and  to  make  it  a  nucleus  for  a  large  Indian 
population.  He  had  been  promised  that  the  roving 
traders  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  it. 
But  he  found  active  opposition  from  the  mission- 
aries and  others  at  Mackinaw,  (who  were  jealous 
of  the  rival  post  which  had  enticed  away  all  their 
Indians,)  and  from  the  traders  who  had  dealt  with 
the  tribes  at  the  north.  There  were  also  com- 
plaints made  to  the  King  from  the  high  officials, 
for  which  it  is  hard  to  find  any  honest  explana- 
tion. They  represented  the  fort  as  useless,  and 
offensive  to  the  Iroquois,  and  the  place  as  not 
eligible  for  agriculture.  Soldiers  were  denied  him, 
and  his  petitions  to  allow  settlers  to  come  in  and 
establish  themselves  were   disregarded. 

The  new  war  with  the  English,  which  broke 
out    soon    after    Detroit   was  founded,  made   their 


Chap.  V.]  CADILLAC  EXONERATED.  67 

emissaries  active ;  and  attacks  were  made,  some 
openly  and  some  stealthily,  upon  the  fort,  which 
met  with  some  calamities.1  In  the  latter  part  of 
1703,  and  beginning  of  1704,  Cadillac  detected 
the  Company  agents  and  some  accomplices  in 
very  bold  and  important  speculation  and  frauds, 
and  put  them  in  arrest.  They  had  relatives  in 
high  positions ;  and  in  the  autumn  of  1 704,  La 
Motte  was  ordered  to  Quebec  for  trial  on  charges 
of  tyrannical  conduct.  During  his  absence,  which 
was  protracted,  much  was  done  to  destroy  his 
plans,  and  the  officer  in  charge  provoked  a  war 
with  some  of  the  neighboring  Indians,  which  was 
unfortunate  in  bringing  much  trouble  on  the  post. 
La  Motte  was  acquitted,  but,  disgusted  with  his 
treatment,  he  appealed  his  grievances  to  Count 
Pontchartrain,  who  came  over  to  Quebec,  and  gave 
him  a  patient  hearing,  and  dismissed  him  with 
commendation. 

One  of  the  most  audacious  wrongs  done  him 
received  a  very  severe  rebuke.  The  King  him- 
self, in  1703,  wrote  to  Callieres  and  Beauharnois, 
(Governor  and  Intendant,)  directing  them,  in  view 
of  the  conflicting  representations  made  to  him 
about  Detroit,  to  call  an  assembly  of  the  most 
reputable    officers    and    inhabitants    of    Canada    to 

1  In  1703,  the  Indians  near  Detroit  were  induced  to  visit  Albany,  and 
for  a  time  were  more  or  less  under  English  influence.  After  their  return  to 
Detroit  they  attempted  to  burn  the  fort,  but  were  repulsed,  after  they  had 
done  some  mischief.  *  The  Ottawas  soon  after  made  a  demonstration  in  which 
they  received  punishment.  In  1706,  while  Cadillac  was  in  Quebec,  another 
attack  was  made  while  M.  de  Bourgmont  was  in  charge,  killing  a  missionary- 
Father  Constantine,  and  a  soldier. 


68 


CADILLAC'S   ENEMIES.  [Chap. 


meet  Cadillac,  and  consider  all  the  reasons  for 
and  against  it,  and  when  agreed  to  have  him,  as 
well  as  themselves,  sign  a  proper  memorial  for 
the  royal  guidance.1  This  meeting  they  called,  but 
did  not  notify  Cadillac  until  several  months  after 
it  had  been  held.  The  report  was  made  without 
information  from  the  person  most  relied  on  to 
give  it.  The  Minister  was  very  indignant  at  this 
treachery,  and  expressed  himself  plainly.2  In  1 706, 
Pontchartrain  wrote  to  Vaudreuil  that  his  conduct 
in  favoring  Arnaud,  who  was  one  of  the  persons 
arrested  by  Cadillac,  was  so  censurable  that, 
unless  he  showed  more  respect  to  the  King's 
orders,  he  would  lose  his  office.3  La  Motte  re- 
turned to  his  post  in  1706.  It  appears  that  he 
was  thereafter  left  in  sole  control  of  the  fort,  and, 
although  annoyed  more  or  less  by  new  hindrances, 
was  maintained  honorably  until  his  removal  to 
Louisiana.  In  1708,  M.  Aigremont  was  sent  out 
by  the  King  to  report  upon  this  among  other 
posts ;  but  on  the  way  he  evidently  fell  into  the 
hands  of  La  Motte's  enemies,  and  his  report  was 
a  labored  argument  for  the  suppression  of  the 
fort  and  settlement  altogether,  in  favor  of 
Mackinaw.  It  was  too  strongly  drawn  to  conceal 
the  spirit  of  the  writer,  and,  while  some  of  his 
recommendations  were  approved,  he  was  not  left 
without  censure.4  He  had  further  correspondence 
with  the  Marine  Department,  in  which  he  lost  no 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  742.  3  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  777. 

2  Sheldon  H.,  p.  154.     9  N.  Y.  Doc,  777.        4  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  827. 


Chap.  V.]  D'AIGREMONT'S   VIEWS.  69 

opportunity  of  assailing  La  Motte  and  his  post. 
His  last  attempt  appears  in  a  letter  to  Count 
Pontchartrain,  in  November,  1710,  in  which  he  not 
only  advocates  making  Mackinaw  the  controlling 
post  of  the  country,  but  recommends  doing  so  by 
the  pernicious  system  of  conges,  or  licenses  to 
trade  in  the  Indian  country.  "To  render  these 
licenses  valuable"  —  he  remarks  —  "a  large  num- 
ber of  canoes  ought  to  be  prevented  going  up  to 
Detroit:  for  being  unable  to  trade  off  within  its 
limits  the  great  quantity  of  goods  with  which 
they  would  be  loaded,  in  the  time  ordinarily  em- 
ployed in  bartering,  those  who  would  find  their 
stock  too  large  would  not  fail  to  go  further  off  to 
sell  them.  Finally,  my  Lord,  the  value  of  these 
licenses  will  depend  on  the  proportion  of  the 
number  of  canoes  which  will  go  up  to  Detroit, 
which  ought  to  be  fixed  at  8  or  10  at  the  most."1 
The  history  of  the  colony  shows  that  it  was  but 
rarely  that  any  one  in  power  favored  the  exten- 
sion of  French  settlements ;  and  the  opposition  to 
these  derived  its  strength  from  two  controlling 
elements — the  missionaries  and  the  fur  traders  — 
which  happened  to  work  together,  though  from 
different  motives.  Beauharnois  and  De  la  Gal- 
issonniere  were  the  most  favorable  of  all  the  later 
Governors  to  colonization,  and  both  took  active 
measures  to  forward  it.  But  the  census  returns 
show  a  lamentable  lack  of  people.  In  1 719,  there 
were  but  22,530   in  all    Canada;    in   1720,  24,434; 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc%  852. 


70  CADILLAC  OBTAINS  A  SEIGNEURIE.  [Chap.  V. 

in  1721,  24,511;  in  1734,  30,516.  Cadillac  was  a 
strenuous  advocate  of  the  policy  of  enlarging  the 
actual  settlements  for  farming  purposes,  and  of 
civilizing  the  Indians  by  education  and  discipline 
in  contact  with  the  French.  And  as  Detroit  stood 
alone  to  represent  this  policy,  it  is  not  strange 
that  many  misrepresentations  were  made  in  regard 
to  it.  But  the  best  evidence  of  the  Commander's 
fidelity  is  found  in  the  unshaken  confidence  of  the 
Home  Government,  which  is  found  very  frequently 
suggesting  to  the  Governor  and  Intendant  the 
duty  of  letting  him  alone,  and  of  respecting  his 
rights.1 

Up  to  his  interview  with  Count  Pontchartrain, 
in  Quebec,  La  Motte's  powers  had  been  so  ham- 
pered that  the  post  did  not  make  much  progress, 
although  remarkably  successful  in  gathering  in  the 
Indians.  But  his  requests  to  be  allowed  to  en- 
courage settlements  were  passed  by,  or  at  all 
events  not  much  favored.  The  Minister's  eyes 
seem  to  have  become  opened  to  the  state  of  affairs, 
and  in  1705  and  1706  he  was  put  in  complete 
and  sole  control  of  the  post,  and  granted  a  manor 
or  seigneurie,  the  precise  limits  of  which  it  is  now 
difficult  to  ascertain. 

His  plans,  which  were  not  all  allowed,  were 
shadowed  forth  in  his  correspondence  of  1703. 
He  then  desired  leave  to  encourage  the  Indians 
to  live  in  houses  and  learn  French  customs,  and 
to  organize  companies  of  Indians  drilled  as  soldiers. 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  777,  805. 


Chap.  V.]  SCHEMES   FOR   IMPROVEMENT.  71 

He  further  desired  to  establish  a  seminary  for 
the  common  instruction  of  French  and  Indian 
children,  and  offered  to  bear  the  expense  himself 
or  provide  means  without  charge  to  the  Crown. 
He  urged  that  the  place  should  be  allowed  to 
become  a  substantial  settlement ;  that  lands  should 
be  granted  to  soldiers  and  settlers,  and  that  settlers 
should  be  allowed  to  erect  dwellings.  He  desired 
leave  to  send  out  men  to  explore  for  minerals ; 
and  offered,  if  granted  a  seigneurie  on  the  Maumee, 
to  establish  the  raising  of  silk-worms  and  silk- 
making,  the  country  being  full  of  mulberry  trees 
and  adapted  to  that  industry.  He  showed  that 
the  people  had  already  raised  a  surplus  of  supplies. 
This  was  during  the  time  when  he  complained, 
with  justice,  that  his  plans  had  been  interfered 
with  under  such  powers  as  he  actually  possessed.1 

When  he  was  relieved  from  the  obstruction  of 
others  at  Detroit,  he  was  not  allowed  all  the 
privileges  he  desired,  but  was,  nevertheless,  in  a 
better  condition,  although  exposed  to  interference 
from  below.  He  at  once  began  to  provide  for 
the  increase  of  the  settlement.  He  made  two 
grants  of  land,  within  the  present  limits  of  Detroit, 
(though  not  included  until  within  a  few  years,) 
and  as  the  first  land  grants  in  Michigan,  and  the 
only  manorial  grants  ever  recognized  as  valid  in 
the  State,  they  deserve  mention.  The  only  other 
manor  granted  in  Michigan  was  conceded  to  the 
Chevalier    de*  Repentigny,    about    half    a   century 

i  Letter  of  1703,  Sheldon's  H.,  107. 


72  Feudal  grants.  [Chap.  v. 

thereafter,  and  lost  to  his  heirs  as  escheated,  under 
a  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 
Whether  La  Motte  Cadillac  made  further  grants 
is  not  known.  In  the  interval  between  the  date 
of  these  and  his  departure  for  Louisiana,  he  was 
constantly  harassed  by  the  colonial  authorities, 
and  may  not  have  found  occasion  to  extend  his 
tenancies. 

A  somewhat  imperfect  translation  of  one  ol 
these  concessions  is  found  in  the  Land  Records 
of  Michigan.1  It  is  dated  March  10,  1707,  and 
made  to  Francois  Fafard,  dit  Delorme.  The  land 
was  two  arpents  (or  about  400  feet)  in  width  by 
twenty  in  depth.2 

The  grantee  had  the  privilege  of  trading,  fish- 
ing and  hunting,  except  as  to  hares,  rabbits,  part- 
ridges and  pheasants.  He  was  to  pay  annually 
at  the  castle  and  principal  manor,  on  the  20th  of 
March,  five  livres  for  seigneurial  dues,  and  ten 
livres  for  other  privileges,  payable  in  peltries  until 
a  currency  was  established  in  the  colony,  and 
thereafter  in  money.  (The  livres  mentioned  in 
these  and  in  legal  documents  generally  were  livres 
parisis  of  25  sols  each,  or  a  franc  and  a  quarter.) 
The  ten  livres  annually  appear  from  subsequent 
provisions,  and  from  other  documents,  to  have 
been    for   the    right   to    trade,    and    to    have    been 

1  Am.  State  Papers,  I  Public  Lands,  250. 

2  In  the  early  surveys,  eighty  arpents  were  made  to  measure  three  miles, 
which  gave  198  American  feet  to  the  arpent.  The  precise  measure  would 
have  been  a  little  less. 


Chap.  V.]  FEUDAL   CONDITIONS. 


73 


personal  and  not  divisible  among  sub-grantees. 
The  other  conditions  were  that  he  should  com- 
mence improving  within  three  months ;  that  he 
should  plant  or  help  plant  a  long  maypole  an- 
nually before  the  door  of  the  principal  manor, 
and  grind  his  grain  at  the  moulin  banal  or  public 
mill,  giving  toll  at  eight  pounds  for  each  minot', 
that  he  should  not  sell  or  hypothecate  his  land 
without  consent,  and  that  it  should  be  subject  to 
the  grantor's  pre-emption  in  case  of  sale,  as  well 
as  to  the  dues  of  alienation,  and  subject  to  the 
use  of  timber  for  vessels  and  fortifications.  The 
grantee  could  not  work  as  blacksmith,  armorer, 
cutler  or  brewer,  without  a  special  permit.  (This 
was  evidently  to  prevent  unauthorized  dealing 
with  the  Indians  in  weapons  or  ale.)  He  was 
given  full  liberty  of  trading  and  importing  goods, 
but  allowed  to  employ  no  clerks  or  agents  who 
were  not  domiciliated  at  Detroit.  The  sale  of 
brandy  to  the  Indians  was  prohibited  on  pain  of 
forfeiture  of  the  liquor  in  his  possession  and  con- 
fiscation of  his  land.  On  a  sale  of  a  part  of  the 
land,  the  annual  dues  were  proportioned,  except 
the  ten  livres  for  trading,  which  every  individual 
was  to  pay  in  full  for  the  privilege. 

This  grant  did  not  require  the  grantee  (as 
was  afterwards  required)  to  dwell  upon  his  con- 
cession. It  appears  that  for  many  years  the 
settlers  all  dwelt  within  the  gates  of  the  town,  or 
immediately  without.1 

*  La  Fork's  memoir,  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  867. 


74 


MILLS.  [Chaf.  V. 


When  he  returned  from  the  east,  or  very  soon 
thereafter,  La  Motte  brought  two  canoe-loads,1  or 
eight  tons,  of  French  wheat,  and  also  a  variety  of 
other  grain  for  seed.  Up  to  that  time  the  only 
grain  used  was  Indian  corn,  and  the  Hurons  and 
Ottawas,  who  were  expert  farmers,  raised  it  in 
great  abundance,  with  beans,  pumpkins  and 
squashes.  He  also  brought  machinery  for  a  large 
mill.  Whether  this  was  a  wind  or  water-mill  is 
not  stated.  It  has  been  assumed  that  it  was  a 
wind-mill.  This  is  probably  an  error.  There  was 
formerly  a  water-mill  on  the  Savoyard  River, 
which  was  within  the  domain  and  ran  between 
the  town  and  the  later  fort,  which  was  built  on 
the  second  terrace.  Other  water-mills  existed 
within  short  distances  of  the  fort,  and  the  wind- 
mills which  were  quite  numerous  were  too  small 
to  serve  the  ends  of  a  moulin  banal.  The  only 
reason  for  supposing  this  to  have  been  a  wind- 
mill was  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  there  were 
streams  used  for  water-mills.  Those  streams  have 
now  disappeared,  but  this  has  happened  within 
living  memory.  It  appears  from  the  settlement  of 
La  Motte's  proprietary  rights  in  1722,  that  he  had 
been  liberal  in  allowing  trading  licenses,  for  which 
the  charge  was  put  uniformly  at  ten  livres,  when 
the  monopoly  was  really  his  own,   and    under    the 


1  Two  canoe-loads  was  the  amount  of  goods  originally  allowed  by 
each  conge  or  trading  license,  and  the  canoes  used  in  the  long  traverses 
were  larger  than  the  modern  ones,  being  five  and  a  half  fathoms  long  by 
one  fathom  wide.  The  upper  lake  bark  canoes  that  visited  Detroit 
would  sometimes  contain  twenty  or  thirty  persons. 


Chap.  v.]  REPORT  OF  D'AIGREMONT.  75 

narrow  policy  introduced  by  one  of  his  successors 
was  resumed,  and  all  trading  right  taken  away 
from  the  people,  except  in  their  farm  products.1 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  settlement 
prospered  under  Cadillac's  liberal  management. 
M.  de  Clerambaut  d'Aigremont,  a  deputy  of  the 
Intendant,  was  ordered,  in  June,  1707,  by  the 
King,  to  visit  Detroit  and  report  upon  its  man- 
agement and  advantages.  Reference  is  made  to 
his  report  in  a  former  part  of  this  chapter.  His 
commission  states  the  mutual  recriminations  of 
Cadillac  and  Vaudreuil  and  Raudot,  the  Governor 
and  Intendant.2  On  the  same  day  Vaudreuil  re- 
ceived strict  orders  not  to  interfere  with  Detroit. 
D'Aigremont's  instructions  were  apparently  meant 
to  be  somewhat  confidential.  It  appears  from  them 
incidentally  that  La  Motte  desired  to  obtain  leave 
from  the  King  to  procure  some  of  the  ladies  of 
the  hospital  at  Montreal,  who  were  willing  to  do 
so,  to  come  out  and  look  after  the  sick,  and  aid 
in  teaching  various  industries;  and  the  delegate 
was  instructed  to  help  him  in  this.  Whether  he 
did  so  does  not  appear.  But  D'Aigremont's  re- 
port, which  was  made  in  the  interest  of  La  Motte's 
enemies,  did  not  affect  his  credit,  beyond  raising 
some  question  as  to  his  desire  for  personal  emol- 
ument, in  which,  however,  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  specially  noteworthy.  With  large 
landed  rights  and  continued  public  employment, 
he  left  no  such"  estate  as  justified  such  suspicions ; 

1  3  Wisconsin  Hist.  Doc.   167.  2  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  805. 


76 


CADILLAC'S   PLANS   FOR   THE  INDIANS.  [Chap.  V. 


and    his    measures,    as    far   as    they   are    recorded, 
were  liberal. 

In  1709,  the  fort  and  settlement  were  left  en- 
tirely to  his  care,  and  to  be  maintained  at  his  own 
expense,  as  to  garrison  as  well  as  civil  expenses.1 

The  project  of  La  Motte  Cadillac  to  enrol  and 
discipline  Indians  was  not  authorized.  And  his 
short  stay  prevented  the  completion  of  his  plans 
to  promote  their  civilization.  The  great  proficiency 
of  some  of  these  people  in  agriculture,  and  their 
disposition  to  emulate  the  customs  of  their  French 
neighbors,  give  strong  evidence  against  the  heart- 
less theories  which  have  led  to  demoralizing,  and 
destroying  them.  No  man  understood  them  better 
than  Cadillac,  and  the  opposition  to  his  views 
came  from  motives  which  cannot  be  approved. 

In  1 710,  La  Motte  Cadillac  left  for  Louisiana, 
of  which  he  was  made   Governor.2 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  827.     3  Wis.  Col.,  167. 

2  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  857. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  FRENCH  RULE  IN  MICHIGAN. 

It  is  readily  seen  that  up  to  the  settlement  of 
Detroit  by  La  Motte  Cadillac,  there  was  nothing 
out  of  which  any  political  future  could  grow. 
The  posts,  although  important  for  military  pur- 
poses, had  no  other  significance.  Except  Detroit, 
no  other  establishment  in  Michigan  was  allowed 
to  form  a  nucleus  of  settlement.  And  during  La 
Motte's  residence  the  hostile  position  of  the  Eng- 
lish, who  employed  all  possible  means  to  stir  up 
the  Indians  against  it,  made  its  position  uneasy 
and  dangerous.  His  great  personal  influence  over 
the  savages  prevented  fatal  mischief,  and  his  small 
beginnings  were  not  without  some  degree  of 
success. 

The  French  system  was  not  designed  or  cal- 
culated to  build  up  self-governing  communities, 
and  theoretically,  and  in  many  cases  practically, 
there  was  absolutism.  But  the  Royal  prerogatives 
were  never  delegated  to  the  colonial  authorities 
except  in  a  very  qualified  way,  and  although  there 
were  great  frauds  and  abuses,  there  was  on  the 
whole  a   respect   for   law.      The    French    colonists 


78  LEGAL  FORMALITIES.  [Chap.  VI. 

had  a  good  reputation  as  not  usually  litigious ; 
but  they  were  tenacious  of  their  legal  rights  as 
far  as  they  went.  The  forms  of  law  were  kept 
up  to  an  extent  that  would  have  appeared  almost 
ludicrous,  but  for  the  real  service  it  rendered  in 
reminding  all  of  the  supremacy  of  justice  over 
great  as  well  as  small.  The  colonists  were  in  no 
sense  abject  or  slavish.  Very  few  people  exhib- 
ited higher  spirit  or  more  personal  independence. 
In  this  they  were  in  no  way  behind  any  of  the 
American  settlers. 

The  powers  of  La  Motte  Cadillac,  when  left 
invested  with  the  control  of  Detroit,  could  not 
have  been  less  than  those  belonging  to  the  high- 
er feudal  lordships  of  France.  He  asserted 
plenary  power  of  justice,  uncontradicted,  before 
he  was  granted  the  seigneurie.  But  it  was  not 
necessary  to  establish  tribunals  of  any  kind,  so 
long  as  the  settlers  were  confined  to  the  fort,  and 
necessarily  subject  to  the  commanding  officers 
governance.  There  was  usually  in  every  post 
which  was  proprietary,  and  not  purely  military, 
that  indispensable  official  in  a  French  settlement, 
a  Public  Notary.  Every  public  as  well  as  private 
transaction  was  made  in  his  presence  as  a  solemn 
witness  and  recorder.  The  French  commanders 
exploring  new  regions  made  public  proclamation 
with  great  ceremony,  placed  tablets  or  other 
memorials  on  trees  or  other  convenient  places,  and 
caused  a  proces  verbal  to  be  drawn  up  and  signed 
by    all    persons    of   note    who    were    present,    and 


Cmaf.  VI.J 


PROCES    VERBAUX.  79 


attested  by  a  notary.  Where  such  an  officer  was 
not  at  hand,  his  place  was  supplied  by  competent 
attesting  witnesses.  La  Salle  took  with  him  on 
his  expedition  his  own  notary  from  Fort  Fron- 
tenac,  to  secure  the  formality  of  his  proclamations. 
The  French  authorities  expressed  surprise  as  well 
as  resentment  on  discovering  that  the  Iroquois 
tore  down  and  carried  off  their  documents  of  pos- 
session, which  they  had  posted  on  trees  in  the 
woods.  When  Celoron  made  his  claims  on  the 
Ohio,  he  buried  metallic  plates  properly  described 
in  his  proces  verbaux,  and  they  remained  until 
quite  recently  unearthed.  These  documents  for 
public  purposes  were  very  like  a  modern  marine 
protest,  which  is  a  narrative  of  the  voyage  and 
incidents  which  have  given  occasion  for  preserving 
a  record  of  facts  that  may  become  important. 

The  absence  of  any  evidence  that  Detroit  had 
such  an  officer  in  La  Motte's  time,  shows  that 
affairs  were  rudimentary.  His  grants,  which  were 
drawn  with  all  the  skill  and  formality  which  would 
result  from  long  use  of  the  Parfait  Notaire,  bear 
no  signature  but  his  own,  and  that  of  his  secretary 
Grandmesnil,  by  whom  they  were  transmitted  for 
collation  to  the  Royal  Notary  of  Quebec.  It  is 
questionable  whether  the  fort  and  domain  lands 
were  ever  granted,  except  upon  lease,  until  long 
after. 

In  the  absence  of  full  evidence,  we  can  only 
conjecture  what  was  the  legal  condition  of  affairs 
after  his   departure.      There    can    be    no    question 


80  CADILLAC'S   ESTATE. 


[Chap.  VI. 


but  that  he  retained  important  proprietary  rights 
until  May  19th,  1722,  when  his  feudal  rights  were 
surrendered  or  modified ;  as  the  King  immediately 
thereafter  authorized  lands  to  be  granted  by  the 
Governor  General  and  Intendant.  The  estate 
which  he  intended  for  his  own  use  was  reserved, 
whatever  it  may  have  been,  and  his  rights  admitted 
by  the  Crown.  None  of  his  privileges  seem  to 
have  been  given  up  except  the  exclusive  right  of 
trade,  which  was  annexed  to  the  office  of  the 
Commandant,  who  received  it  as  an  equivalent  for 
his  expense  in  maintaining  the  post.1  Letters  from 
Detroit,  after  his  departure,  indicate  that  he  had 
probably  farmed  out  his  rights  to  some  one, 
supposed  to  be  the  younger  De  Tonty.  After  his 
death  his  family  sold  his  Detroit  estates  to  one 
Bernard  Maichen,  who  never  paid  but  half  the 
purchase  price.  His  grand-daughter  and  heiress, 
Madame  Gregoire,  who  obtained  from  Massachu- 
setts, in  1782,  the  remnant  of  his  barony  of 
Bouaquat  and  Mont  Desert,  was  foiled  in  her 
attempts  to  recover  the  property  in  Detroit. 
Whether  it  was  ever  secured  by  Maichen  or  his 
grantees  is  not  known.  That  title  was  probably 
not  produced  before  the  land  Commissioners,  as 
no  grants  from  Cadillac  were  established  except 
those  made  by  him  personally. 

Upon  La  Motte's  departure,  De  la  Foret    was 
appointed  his  successor.      This    gentleman    was    a 

1  Royal  Letter  to  Vaudreuil  and  Bigot,  of  June  18,  1722. — 3  Wis.  Hist. 
Col.,  167. 


Chap.  VI.]  SIEGE  OF   DETROIT. 


81 


man  of  note,  having  been  La  Salle's  lieutenant 
and  deputy  at  Fort  Frontenac,  and  afterwards, 
and  at  this  time,  interested  with  the  Chevalier 
Henry  de  Tonty  in  the  proprietorship  of  Fort  St. 
Louis,  where  Sieur  Desliettes  or  De  Liette  was 
stationed.  La  Foret  was  detained  by  private  affairs 
in  Quebec  until  some  time  in  171 2.  The  Sieur 
Dubuisson  was  ordered  to  take  temporary  com- 
mand, and  arrived  in  17 10.  He  had  a  very  small 
force,  there  being  but  thirty  Frenchmen  in  the 
fort.  In  May,  171 2,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Indians  in  the  English  interest,  a  desperate  attempt 
was  made  to  destroy  the  fort.  Two  villages  of 
Mascoutins  and  Outagamies  had  been  established 
and  fortified  within  pistol-shot  of  the  French  fort. 
These  people  determined  to  annihilate .  the  post, 
and  two  large  bands  arrived  in  the  early  spring 
to  help  them.  Dubuisson  had  timely  warning, 
and  took  measures  to  send  word  to  the  western 
nations,  and  to  draw  within  the  fort  his  grain  and 
supplies,  which  were  stored  outside  in  a  store- 
house near  the  church.  He  then  destroyed  these 
buildings  and  several  houses  which  would  have 
endangered  the  fort  if  set  on  fire.  He  dissembled 
with  the  enemy,  knowing  that  if  he  was  supposed 
to  have  suspected  their  plans  he  would  be  attack- 
ed11 at  once.  He  accordingly  gave  them  to  under- 
stand he  expected  an  assault  from  the  Miamis, 
and  was  repairing  his  defences.  The  savages  were 
very  insolent,  and  committed  depredations  on  the 
property  of  the  French  outside  of  the  fort,  which 
6 


82  ARRIVAL  OF  ALLIES.  [Chap.  VL 

he  did  not  venture  to  resent.  It  was  necessary 
to  sow  grain  and  pasture  the  cattle,  and  it  was  an 
object  to  postpone  the  difficulty.  On  the  13th  of 
May,  M.  De  Vincennes  arrived  with  seven  or 
eight  Frenchmen,  but  no  news  of  the  Indian  allies. 
Suddenly  a  Huron  came  into  the  fort  (to  their 
surprise,  as  the  Huron  village  had  been  deserted 
by  all  but  seven  or  eight  men)  and  informed  the 
French  that  the  Potawatamie  war  chief  and  three 
others  were  in  the  Huron  fort  and  desired  to 
counsel  with  them.  Vincennes  went  over  to  meet 
them,  and  was  told  that  six  hundred  men  would 
soon  arrive  to  help  the  garrison.  The  commander, 
desirous  of  sparing  life  if  possible,  wished  to  con- 
tent himself  when  his  friends  should  come  with 
driving  away  his  troublesome  neighbors.  But  the 
Hurons  would  listen  to  nothing  but  a  war  of  ex- 
termination. Dubuisson  at  once  closed  the  fort 
and  prepared  for  the  expected  attack,  and,  the 
chaplain  performed  religious  services,  and  got 
ready  to  aid  the  wounded.  At  this  time  Dubuis- 
son was  informed  that  many  people  were  in  sight. 
He  says :  "  I  immediately  ascended  a  bastion, 
and  casting  my  eyes  towards  the  woods,  I  saw 
the  army  of  the  nations  of  the  south  issuing  from 
it.  They  were  the  Illinois,  the  Missouris,  the 
Osages,  and  other  nations  yet  more  remote. 
There  were  also  with  them  the  Ottawa  Chief 
Saguina,  and  also  the  Potawatamies,  the  Sacs, 
and  some  Menominies.  Detroit  never  saw  such 
a  collection  of  people.     It  is  surprising  how  much 


C*a».  VI.]  THE  ENEMY  DECAMP.  83 

all  these  nations  are  irritated  against  the  Mascou- 
tins  and  the  Outagamies.  The  army  marched  in 
good  order,  with  as  many  flags  as  there  were 
different  nations,  and  it  proceeded  directly  to  the 
fort  of  the  Hurons."1 

The  Hurons  said  they  should  not  encamp,  but 
enter  the  fort  and  fight  for  the  French.  The 
war  began  at  once.  The  enemy  were  besieged 
nineteen  days,  by  a  large  force  of  the  allies,  and 
the  French  fort  at  the  same  time  was  in  great 
danger  from  the  burning  missiles  which  came  in 
hundreds  and  fired  the  thatched  roofs.  These 
were  torn  off  as  fast  as  possible,  and  replaced 
with  bear  and  deer  skins,  and  two  large  pirogues 
were  filled  with  water,  and  swabs  fixed  on  long 
poles  to  put  out  any  fire  as  it  started.  There 
were  times  when  the  Indians  within  the  French 
fort  became  discouraged,  but  the  brave  comman- 
der cheered  them  up.  The  besieged  enemy  was 
cut  off  from  water  and  food,  and  lost  many  killed. 
The  savage  besiegers  would  not  allow  them  to 
capitulate.  At  midnight  of  a  dark  rainy  night 
they  decamped  and  escaped  to  Windmill  Point,  at 
the  entrance  of  Lake  St.  Clair,  eight  miles  dis- 
tant, and  threw  up  entrenchments.  In  the  morn- 
ing their  escape  was  discovered,  and  the  allies 
went  in  pursuit.  In  their  eagerness  the  assailants 
did  not  perceive  the  defences,  and  at  first  lost 
many  men.  They  were  compelled  to  fortify,  and 
begin  a  new  siege.     The  besiegers  were   supplied 

1  Dubuisson's  Narrative,  p.  9. 


84 


GREAT  SLAUGHTER.  [Chap.  VI. 


abundantly  with  provisions,  and  had  two  cannon. 
After  four  days  the  besieged  surrendered,  and  all 
but  the  women  and  children  were  slain.  The 
loss  of  the  French  and  allies  was  sixty  Indians 
killed  and  wounded,  and  six  or  seven  French 
wounded.     The  enemy  lost  a  thousand. 

The  results  were  very  beneficial  to  Detroit. 
The  Commander  received  great  credit,  as  did 
also  Vincennes,  who  thereby  escaped  from  the 
consequences  of  some  previous  disobedience  of 
orders. 

De  la  Foret  arrived  soon  after  the  siege,  and 
remained  till  171 7,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
the  younger  Tonty,  who  was  also  an  able  officer 
but  avaricious  and  unscrupulous  in  trade  matters, 
having  been  implicated  in  the  frauds  of  1703  and 
1704,  and  brought   into    disgrace    with    the   King.1 

De  la  Foret,  in  171 4,  wrote  a  memorial  upon 
the  subject  of  maintaining  the  fort,  in  which  he 
urged  its  importance  as  necessary  for  the  defence 
of  the  country  and  the  supply  of  provisions.  He 
nevertheless  desired  to  have  the  settlement 
stopped,  and  the  whole  converted  into  a  military 
trading  post,  giving  the  commander  an  exclusive 
monopoly,  and  stopping  the  sale  of  trading  licen- 
ses to  the  settlers,  as  originated  by  La  Motte, 
which  he  there  asserts  is  in  conflict  with  the 
commandant's  rights.  In  this  view  he  insists  the 
settlers  must    leave    the    fort,  and    represents  that 

x  9N.  Y.  Doc,  808. 


Cha*.  VI.]  CONDITION  OF  DETROIT.  85 

they  cannot  improve  their  lands  by  reason  of 
exposure  to  the  savages.1  He,  however,  submits 
this  to  His  Majesty's  pleasure.  In  any  event  he 
desires  to  maintain  a  small  garrison  of  troops. 

In  1 71 6,  Vaudreuil  made  an  effort  to  restore 
the  brandy  trade  among  the  Indians,  applying  to 
the  Regent  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  representing 
that  it  could  be  done  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent 
excesses.  In  the  same  letter  he  urges  a  renewal 
of  the  sale  of  licenses  for  roving  traders  among 
the  Indians,  which  had  been  so  troublesome  before.2 

Whether  from  respect  to  La  Motte's  rights, 
or  for  some  other  cause,  no  change  seems  to 
have  been  made  in  the  management  of  affairs  at 
Detroit.  While  there  are  no  records  of  land 
sales,  it  is  apparent  the  inhabitants  were  increas- 
ing; and  they  probably  held  by  some  tenancy 
less  than  freehold,  or  were  allowed  to  possess 
vacant  lands  by  the  Commandant. 

The  memoir  of  1718  on  Indian  affairs  contains 
a  very  complete  and  graphic  description  of  the 
whole  Lake  Region,  and  devotes  considerable 
space  to  the  Indian  villages  about  the  fort  at 
Detroit,  and  their  customs  and  industries.  The 
Potawatamies,  Hurons  and  Ottawas  are  represented 
as  raising  abundant  crops  of  corn,  beans,  peas, 
squashes  and  melons,  and  some  wheat.  The 
Hurons  are  remarked  as  more  sedate  than  the 
rest,  and  as   the   bravest   and    most   intelligent   of 

*  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  868.  *  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  870. 


86  CHARLEVOIX  AT  DETROIT.  [Chap.  VI. 

all  the  nations.  The  timber  trees  and  natural 
fruits  and  nuts  of  the  Detroit  region  are  spoken 
of  in  glowing  terms.  No  reference  is  made  to 
the  French. 

During  this  period  the  post  at  Mackinaw 
assumed  great  importance,  but  it  had  no  settled 
population  except  in  connection  with  the  fur  trade. 

In  1 721,  Charlevoix  visited  Detroit,  and  re- 
mained several  days.  He  speaks  in  high  terms 
of  Tonty,  who  was  then  in  command,  and  of  the 
character  of  the  land  and  its  products.  During 
his  visit  a  council  was  held  with  the  Indians  to 
suppress  the  liquor  traffic,  and  to  prepare  to 
fight  the  Outagamies,  who  had  not  lost  their  old 
hostility.  He  refers  to  the  attempts  which  had 
been  made  to  depreciate  the  importance  of  the 
post,  and  shows  the  falsehood  of  the  statements 
concerning  the  lands.  Incidentally  it  would  appear 
that  there  was  considerable  cultivated  land,  as 
he  speaks  of  the  same  land  bearing  wheat  for 
many  years  without  manuring,  as  evidence  of  the 
fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  wheat  culture  was 
mostly  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  He  refers  to 
the  Hurons  as  raising  provisions  for  sale  in  large 
quantities,  and  as  sharp  traders. 

It  appears  from  Dubuisson's  report  of  the 
siege,  that  there  were  cattle  enough  to  be  of  im- 
portance to  the  settlement,  in   171 2. 

In  1720,  the  English  proposed  to  send  horses 
to    Niagara    for   transportation,    and    to    make   a 


Chap.  VI.]  LAND  CONCESSIONS. 


87 


settlement  there.1  Pack-horses  are  not  often  re- 
ferred to  by  travellers  as  early  as  this,  and  there 
is  little  information  about  them.  In  1719,  there 
were  in  all  Canada  4,024  horses  and  18,241 
horned  cattle.  In  1720,  there  were  5,270  horses, 
and  24,866  horned  cattle.  Mrs.  Grant,  of  Laggan, 
says  that  in  1761  there  were  no  horses  and  only 
one  cow  at  Oswego.2 

In  1722,  the  rights  of  La  Motte  Cadillac  hav- 
ing been  adjusted,  the  traffic  was  ordered  to  be 
granted  to  the  Commandant  during  his  tenure  of 
command  and  no  longer,  and  he  was  to  claim  no 
title  to  the  land  at  the  post,  and  grant  no  con- 
cessions.3 The  Governor  and  Intendant  were  to 
grant  these  concessions  in  the  name  of  His 
Majesty,  with  no  trade  privileges  beyond  the  dis- 
posal of  farm  products.  The  grants  were  not  to 
exceed  four  arpents  wide  by  forty  deep,  and  to 
be  made  in  consecutive  order.  The  Commandant 
was  required  to  obtain  building  concessions  as 
well  as  other  persons,  and  to  get  no  other  trade 
rights  beyond  his  continuance  in  command.  But 
he  was  to  have  the  use  without  title  of  ground 
for  garden  and  stables. 

No  attention  was  paid  to  this  decree  by 
Vaudreuil,  or  his  successor,  the  first  Longueuil. 
And  in  1726,  Tonty  made  an  exclusive  grant  of 
the  right  of  traffic  to  four  associates,  La   Marque, 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  1037.  *  Memoirs  of  an  American  Lady. 

3  Royal  decree.     3  Wis.  H.  Doc,  167,  168. 


8& 


BEAUHARNOIS  AND  HOCQUART.  [Chap.  Vl. 


Chiery,  Nolan  and  Gatineau,  who  at  once  enforced 
their  claims  without  mercy.  The  inhabitants  sent 
a  vigorous  remonstrance  against  it  to  the  Intend- 
ant,  signed  by  the  ancestors  of  several  of  the 
present  French  families  of  Detroit,  Chesne, 
Campau,  De  Marsac,  Bineau,  Reaume,  Picard, 
Roubidou,  La  Devoute  and  De  Gaudefroy,  and 
with  the  marks  of  others.  The  company  wrote  to 
the  Intendant,  urging  that  the  people  ought  to 
devote  their  time  to  farming  and  not  to  trading; 
but  as  the  Governor  and  Intendant  had  granted 
no  lands,  this  was  not  ingenious.  Tonty  wrote 
a  very  insolent  letter  calling  them  gens  sans 
aveu,  or  vagrants,  and  making  some  excuses 
which  were  evasive  and  sophistical,  but  mainly 
resting  on  his  rights  to  do  as  he  pleased.1 

What  action  was  taken  does  not  appear;  but 
in  that  same  year  the  Marquis  of  Beauharnois 
became  Governor,  and  in  1728  Hocquart  was  made 
Intendant,  and  a  new  era  soon  opened  on  the 
colony.  They  were  sensible  and  patriotic,  and 
understood  the  value  of  people,  while  they  were 
not  tainted  with  the  fraud  and  greed  of  some 
of  their  predecessors.  Tonty  was  relieved, 
and  command  given  Boishebert,  who  seems,  while 
at  Detroit  and  after  he  left,  to  have  been  a  true 
friend  to  the  inhabitants.  In  1728,  at  some 
unknown  prompting,  the  King  suggested  farming 
out  the  post  at  Detroit,  but  the  views  of  Beau- 
harnois prevailed  and  it  was  not  done.2 

1  3  Wis.  His.  Doc,  169  to  178.  *  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  1004. 


Chap.  VI.]  VIEWS  OF  BEAUHARNOIS.  89 

It  is  not  entirely  certain  whether  the  earliest 
grant  of  lands  by  Beauharnois  and  Hocquart  was 
in  1730  or  1734.  In  1732,  Beauharnois,  who  had 
failed  in  his  efforts  to  have  two  vessels  placed  on 
Lake  Erie,1  wrote  thus  concerning  Detroit,  to 
Count  Maurepas: 

"  Sieur  de  Boishebert's  occupations  regarding 
the  proceedings  of  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois 
against  the  Foxes,  will  not  have  permitted  him, 
I  believe,  sending  you  the  draughts  he  was  to 
make  of  Lakes  Ste.  Claire  and  Huron.  I  have  not 
failed  to  recommend  to  that  officer,  as  I  had  done 
to  his  predecessors,  to  give  all  their  attention  to 
the  establishment  of  Detroit,  and  to  the  general 
welfare  of  that  post.  But  although  they  do  not 
appear  to  me  to  be  wanting  in  attention  in  these 
two  particulars,  it  is  impossible  for  that  establish- 
ment to  become  considerable,  so  long  as  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  troops  are  not  sent  thither,  to 
whom  lands  would  be  granted  for  the  purpose  of 
improvement,  by  which  course  farmers  would 
eventually  be  introduced.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  be  His  Majesty's  intention  to  send  thither  a 
hundred  faussonniers2  with  their  families,  to  whom 
some  advances  would  be  made  in  the  first  in- 
stance, this  post  would  become  considerable  in  a 
short  time,  and  by  its  strength  keep  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  Upper  Country  in  check.  But  as 
these  projects  can  not  be  executed  until  approved 
by  His    Majesty,    I    shall   continue    to   recommend 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  1014.  a  Faux-saulniers,  or  salt-smugglers. 


90  CAMPAU'S  MILL.  [Chap.  VI. 

the  officers  in  command  of  that  post  to  induce  as 
much  as  possible  the  settlers  to  cultivate  the  soil, 
and  to  maintain  good  order  there.  This,  my 
Lord,  is  all  that   their  diligence   can   accomplish."1 

This  would  indicate  that  no  new  grants  had 
then  been  made.  And  in  October,  1734,  he 
wrote  that  there  were  but  750  soldiers  in  the 
entire  colony.2 

While  Boishebert  was  in  command,  he  author- 
ized a  water  mill  to  be  built  by  Charles  Campau, 
on  a  stream  which  has  now  disappeared,  but  which 
was  known  in  1742  as  Campau's  Mill  River,  in 
later  days  as  Cabacier's  Creek,  and  lastly  as 
May's  Creek,  from  the  adjoining  residence  of 
Judge  May.  The  mill  stood  nearly  where  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad  crosses  Fort  street,  in 
the  city  of  Detroit,  and  the  stream  was  in  the 
basin  now  occupied  by  the  railroad.  In  1753, 
Cabacier  complained  that  his  land  was  overflowed, 
but  it  was  made  to  appear  that  the  mill  antedated 
his  concession  nearly  twenty  years,  and  the 
Governor  General  confirmed  Campau's  rights.3 
It  is  mentioned  in  the  petition  of  the  inhabitants 
as  the  only  mill  convenient  to  the  fort,  and  as 
running  most  of  the  year.  From  this  it  would 
seem  that  the  moulin  banal  had  ceased  to  exist, 
or  was  distant  from  the  settlement  at  the    fort.4 

In     1734,    concessions    were    made    to    several 

1  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  1036.  3  1  Am.  St.  P.,  253. 

a  9  N.  Y.  Doc,   1040.  4  1  Am.  St.  P.,  251. 


Chap.  VI.J  TENURES  IN  ROTURE.  91 

inhabitants,  of  tracts  of  various  widths  from  two 
to  four  arpents,  and  forty  arpents  deep.  These 
were  made  by  the  Governor  and  Intendant,  under 
the  decree  of  1722  before  referred  to.  Similar 
grants  were  made  at  intervals  until  after  1750. 
These  concessions  were  upon  conditions,  (1)  of 
suit  to  the  moulin  banal  when  established,  (2) 
settlement  and  habitation  (y  tenir  feu  et  lieu) 
within  a  year;  (3)  keeping  up  fences,  and  cultiva- 
tion, and  allowance  of  roads ;  (4)  annual  dues  of 
1  sol  per  arpent  front,  and  20  sols  for  each  20 
arpents  of  surface,  and  one  bushel1  of  wheat  for 
the  four  arpents  front.  These  dues  were  payable 
at  Martinmas,  (nth  November,)  the  money  dues 
being  receivable  in  peltries  till  currency  should  be 
established.  (5)  Customary  lods  et  ventes  accord- 
ing to  the  coutume  de  Paris,  and  other  feudal 
rights ;  (6)  rights  reserved  in  mines,  minerals,  and 
timber  for  public  purposes  ;  (7)  procuring  immediate 
survey,  and  Royal  patent  within  two  years.  All 
these  on  pain  of  forfeiture.2 

It  appears  that  at  this  time  Hugues  Pean  was 
in   command,    and    active    in    procuring   these    pri- 

1  Although  the  word  minot  used  in  these  conveyances  is  said  by  Dr. 
O'Callaghan  to  be  a  larger  measure,  yet,  like  other  standards  of  measure 
and  value,  it  was  not  uniform.  At  Detroit,  among  the  French  inhabitants, 
the  word  minot  always,  meant  a  bushel,  and  the  word  pinte  a  quart,  and 
chopine  a  pint.  The  writers  have  used  these  words  in  many  ways.  Mr. 
Weld  says  the  minot  was  to  the  Winchester  bushel  as  ioo  to  108.765. — 
Weld's  Travels,  216. 

2  All  these  grants  were  afterwards  classed  as  "  Terres  en  Roture" 
Ferriere  says  these  were  not  feudal  tenures,  and  were  subject  to  only  two 
principal  burdens,  viz :  the  annual  cens  or  dues,  and  the  lods  et  ventes  or 
fines  of  alienation  due  to  the  seigneur  censier  by  the  purchaser  on  sale  or 
exchange. — Fertiere's  Law  Die,  "  Roture." 


92  LAND  GRANTS.  [Chap.  Vl. 

vileges.  This  officer  was  a  man  of  distinction 
and  hereditary  Town  Major  of  Quebec.  His  re- 
lations with  a  subsequent  Intendant,  Bigot,  were 
peculiar  and  disgraceful.  Both  of  them  on  their 
return  to  France,  after  the  surrender  of  1760, 
were  tried  and  convicted  of  official  misdemeanors, 
but  whether  any  of  them  related  to  conduct  here 
is  not  known.  Pean  was  fined  six  hundred 
thousand  livres,  or  $125,000.'  Bigot  was  merely 
banished  from  the  court  to  his  estates. 

From  this  time  on  for  several  years  the  annals 
are  silent,  and  the  people  may  therefore  be  pre- 
sumed to  have  prospered. 

Only  six  of  these  concessions  were  ever  sent 
to  Paris  for  confirmation;  and  this  fact  left  the 
titles  at  Detroit  clear  of  some  difficulties  when 
the  United  States  began  to  deal  with    them. 

Anticipating  somewhat  the  course  of  events, 
the  only  other  land  grants  made  by  the  French 
in  Michigan  were  confined  to  the  seigneurie 
granted  to  the  Chevalier  de  Repentigny  at  the 
Sault  de  Ste.  Marie,  in  1750  and  1 751,  of  six 
leagues  square.  He  took  possession  and  began 
the  settlement  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  French 
Government,  who  had  found  it  necessary  to 
check  the  advances  of  the  English  among  the 
northern  tribes.  When  Carver  passed  through, 
in  1767,  he  found  the  possession  kept  up  by  a 
person    who    had    been    in    Repentigny's    employ, 

*  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  1 126. 


Chap.  VI.]  REPENTIGNY.  93 

and  left  in  charge,  but  who  then  claimed  to  own 
it  himself.  Repentigny  was  a  very  distinguished 
officer  and  reached  high  rank  in  the  French 
army,  having  been  made  Marquis  and  General. 
This  claim  was  presented  to  the  United  States 
authorities  in  1825,  but  not  allowed  by  the  com- 
missioners, as  the  act  of  Congress  was  not  broad 
enough  to  cover  it.  It  was  afterwards  brought 
before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,1 
where  it  was  decided  that  the  action  of  Congress 
previously  had  cut  it  off.  The  judgment  was  one 
which  took  rather  narrower  views  of  these  con- 
cessions than  seem  to  have  been  taken  by  the 
French  or  British  authorities,  and  held  that  the 
act  of  Congress  under  which  the  claim  was  pre- 
sented for  adjudication  was  not  intended  to  waive 
any  question  in  the  United  States  Courts,  if  the 
claim  was  technically  cut  off  when  the  United  States 
acquired  the  country. 

The  successive  Commandants  at  Detroit  appear 
to  have  had  no  serious  difficulties  with  the  inhab- 
itants, and  the  people  apparently  continued  in  the 
privileges  of  which  Tonty  had  sought  to  deprive 
them.  Licenses  seem  to  have  been  sold  to  such 
as  desired  them.  Among  the  officers  commanding 
at  various  times,  besides  those  already  mentioned, 
were  Pajot,  Deschaillons  de  St.  Ours  (a  very  dis- 
tinguished officer),  Desnoyelles,  Noyan,  Sabrevois, 
Celoron,  Longueuil,  De  Muy,  and  Bellestre. 

*  5  Wal.,  211. 


94  INDIAN  SETTLEMENTS.  {€***.  VI. 

Between  1734  and  1739,  it  is  supposed  that 
M.  de  Sabrevois  was  in  command,  as  in  his  time 
the  conditions  of  land  grants  within  the  fort  seem 
to  have  been  fixed  as  they  were  afterwards 
maintained.1 

In  1 741,  Beauharnois  held  councils  with  the 
Indians  belonging  in  the  region  of  Mackinaw  and 
the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  under  his 
auspices  they  made  a  number  of  settlements, 
extending  from  the  St.  Joseph's  River,  at  various 
points,  including  Muskegon,  to  L'Arbre  Croche.2 
The  latter  became  an  important  settlement,  and 
was  the  seat  of  a  considerable  industry,  the 
Indians  maintaining  a  very  good  reputation,  and 
being  cared  for  by  devoted  missionaries.  Within 
the  last  thirty  years  the  L'Arbre  Croche  sugar 
was  always  reckoned  clean  and  reliable,  and 
brought  the  best  price  of  any  Indian  sugar  in  the 
Detroit  market ;  unless  in  some  few  instances 
where  it  was  made  equally  well  elsewhere  by 
known  families. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  official  term  of 
Count  Maurepas  as  Minister  of  the  Marine,  the 
most  liberal  policy  prevailed,  as  Beauharnois,  La 
Jonquiere,  and  De  la  Galissonniere  were  all  dis- 
posed to  serye  the  true  interests  of  the  colony. 
All  of  the  Phelyppeaux  were  men  of  unsullied  honor 
and  integrity,  and  of  much  personal  independence. 
They  seem  to  have  inspired  much  personal  attach- 

*  1  Am.  St.  Pap.,  259.  2  9  N.  Y.  Doc.  1072. 


Chap    VI.]  LOST    ISLANDS.  95 

ment  among  the  western  leaders.  La  Motte 
Cadillac  named  his  Detroit  post  after  Jerome 
Phelyppeaux,  Count  Pontchartrain,  and  Fort  Rosa- 
lie after  his  lady.  Lakes  Pontchartrain  and 
Maurepas  in  Louisiana  were  named  after  the  fath- 
er and  son.  Their  names  were  not  so  fortunate 
in  Michigan.  Besides  the  fort  at  Detroit,  three 
islands  in  Lake  Superior  were  called  after  the  fam- 
ily, lies  Phelyppeaux  or  Minong,  Maurepas  and 
Pontchartrain.  A  fourth  was  named  after  the  In- 
tendant  Hocquart.  He  Phelyppeaux  was  laid  down 
as  an  island  larger  than  He  Royale,  lying  between 
that  and  Keweenaw  Point,  and  declared  by  Carver 
like  the  latter  island,  to  have  been  large  enough  for 
a  province.  By  the  Treaty  of  1783  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  He  Phelyppeaux 
was  one  of  the  boundary  marks,  the  line  running 
just  north  of  it.  The  other  three  islands  were 
[aid  down  towards  the  eastward  and  northeastward. 

The  Indians  had  a  superstitious  fear  of 
approaching  these  islands,  which  were  supposed  to 
be  tenanted  by  the  Great  Manitou  Michabou,  and 
guarded  by  mysterious  and  terrible  spirits  and 
serpents.  Of  all  those  named,  He  Royale  is  the 
only  one  now  known  to  exist,  unless  Maurepas 
has  been  confounded  with  Michipicoten,  which  is 
not  in  exactly  the  same  region,  but  is  not  very 
far  off,  and  is  identified  with  it  by  Alexander 
Henry.  It  is  hardly  supposable,  although  that  is 
a  volcanic  country,  that  any  such  islands  can 
have  disappeared  in  modern  times,   but    it    is    not 


96  LAW   OFFICERS. 


[Chap.  VI. 


easy  to  account  for  the  location  and  naming  of 
imaginary  islands,  where,  from  the  foundation  of 
Du  Luth's  fort  on  the  Kaministiquia  River,  (now 
Fort  William)  the  French  had  been  constant 
travellers.  In  these  instances  the  statesmen  whose 
names  were  "writ  in  water"  have  been  no  more 
fortunate  in  their  monuments  than  others  in  like 
plight.  But  they  were  fortunate  in  having  more 
than  one  remembrancer. 

In  Mr.  Schoolcraft's  Journal  of  Gen.  Cass's 
first  expedition  to  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi 
in  1820,  he  mentions  these  islands,  and  refers  to 
some  of  the  Indian  superstitions  concerning  them. 
As  He  Phelyppeaux  came  within  the  legal  limits 
of  the  State  of  Michigan,  it  must,  with  Toledo,  be 
now  reckoned  among  her  lost  empires.  Its  other 
name,  Minong,  has  been  attached  to  He  Royale, 
where,  perhaps,  it  always  belonged. 

We  find  now,  in  the  incidental  references  of 
our  public  records,  evidences  that  Detroit  had 
become  subject  to  the  ordinary  incidents  of  civil 
settlements.  There  was  probably  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  policy  of  land  grants,  a  Deputy 
Intendantj  and  the  same  or  some  other  person 
acted  as  notary.  The  elder  Robert  Navarre  came 
to  Detroit  in  1730,  and  was  constantly  employed 
in  public  service  of  some  kind.  The  King's  dues 
were  payable  to  his  receiver  (the  Intendant)  or  a 
local  sub-receiver,  and  Navarre's  name  is  the  first 
found  in  that  capacity,  while  the  receipts  are 
endorsed  on   the    deeds   of  the   land-owners    from 


Chap.  VI.]  NOTARIAL  ACTS 


97 


the  beginning.  The  jurist  De  Ferriere  represents 
the  functions  of  a  Deputy  Intendant  to  have  been 
judicial  as  well  as  ministerial,  and  such  was 
probably  the  case  in  Detroit.  The  notary,  (who 
at  this  time  generally  performed  all  functions  con- 
nected with  transfers,  contracts  and  successions,) 
had  no  incompatible  duties,  and  Navarre  was 
Royal  Notary.  In  1753,  M.  Landrieve  was  acting 
temporarily  as  Deputy  Intendant,  Navarre  being- 
then  probably  absent  on  other  duty,  as  he  had  a 
great  influence  with  the  Indians.  In  1760,  we 
find  Navarre  and  Baptiste  Campau  both  acting- 
together  as  notaries,  the  latter  performing,  appar- 
ently the  duties  of  Tabellion  or  notarial  clerk  and 
registrar.  It  is  not  likely  the  judicial  duties  were 
very  heavy,  but  the  receipts  for  the  King  were 
considerable,  both  in  money  and  wheat,  and  the 
sub-Intendant  was  curator  of  the  public  property 
not  strictly  military.  We  find  at  this  period  that 
the  Commandant  made  grants  of  lands  within  the 
fort,  and  possibly  in  the  precinct  or  domain 
adjoining.  M.  de  Bellestre  declared  in  a  subse- 
quent inquiry  that  this  was  his  absolute  right,  the 
rents,  however,  belonging  to  the  Crown.1  In 
some  cases  a  ratification  was  required  from  the 
Governor  General,  as  indicated  by  the  Decree  of 
1722.  Such  cases  are  found  recorded  in  1754-5, 
on  grants  from  M.  de  Muy  confirmed  by  Du 
Quesne.2      In   1 741 ,  such  a  grant  is  made  by    De 

x  Wayne  Record,  B.,  p.  128.  2  Id.,  A.,  p.  1. 

7 


98  CONDITIONS   OF  TOWN   GRANTS.  Chap.  VI. 

Noyan  to  Navarre,  without  confirmation.1  The 
terms  of  tenure  were  two  sols  per  foot  front,  not 
redeemable,  but  payable  in  cash,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  the  fortifications  in  proportion  to 
such  front.2  This  was  one  pile  or  picket,  var- 
iously stated  from  fifteen  feet  upward  in  length, 
for  each  foot  front  of  the  lot.  In  1745,  a  sale 
is  recorded  of  a  house  within  the  fort,  and  of 
"  forty  fort  pickets,  which  are  all  of  cedar,  appur- 
tenant to  the  said  house."3  This  obligation  to 
supply  pickets  was  afterwards  a  source  of  con- 
tention, and  the  duty  was  disputed.  But  the 
deeds  are  explicit.  In  addition  to  the  annual 
dues,  and  to  taxes,  there  were  fines  of  alienation.- 
On  what  basis  these  were  settled  does  not  appear, 
but  it  was  probably  according  to  the  Coutume  de 
Paris.  In  1760,  upon  a  purchase  by  De  Belles- 
tre,  the  fines  on  a  purchase  of  12,000  livres  were 
666  livres,  13  sols,  or  more  than  five  per  cent.4 
Even  while  no  war  was  existing  between 
France  and  England,  the  British  agents  (claiming 
ostensibly  under  the  Iroquois  grant,  which  was 
much  more  shadowy  than  the  French  claims 
which  they  professed  to  regard  as  theoretical,) 
kept  up  with  their  Indian  allies  a  continued  series 
of  attempts  to  reach  the    western    trade,    and   get 

1  Wayne  Record,  A.,  p.  29. 

2  Id.,  A.,  p.  1,  17. 

3  "  Quarante  pieux  de  fort,  que  sont  tous  de  cedre,  dependants  de  la 
dite  maison." — A.,  p.   17. 

4  Wayne  Record,  B.,  128. 


Chaf.  VI.]  INTRIQUES  WITH   HURONS.  99 

control  of  the  country.  The  Hurons,  who  had 
been  deadly  enemies  of  the  Iroquois  and  all  their 
friends,  and  who  had  stood  fast  by  the  French, 
were  approached  by  these  tempters,  and  by 
degrees  led  away  from  their  fidelity.  Their  posi- 
tion was  such  as  to  make  this  very   dangerous. 

When  Charlevoix  was  in  Detroit  he  mentioned 
that  it  was  desired  to  establish  a  Huron  mission, 
which  was  not  then  determined  on.  In  1742,  this 
was  settled  on  Bois-blanc  Island,  on  the  Canada 
side  of  the  mouth  of  Detroit  River,  commanding 
the  main  channel.  Father  Potier  had  charge,  and 
the  village  was  very  extensive,  regularly  laid  out, 
and  containing  several  hundred  people.  It  was 
then  of  several  years'  standing.  It  is  likely  it 
had  been  removed  thither  from  Detroit,  and 
Father  de  la  Richardie  is  said  to  have  at  one 
time  been  a  missionary  in  the  tribe.  For  a  per- 
iod of  some  years  these  intrigues  went  on,  and 
the  Commander  at  Detroit  was  diligent  in  oppos- 
ing them.  Hearing  that  the  English  had  designs 
on  White  River  and  the  Wabash  country,  Celoron, 
a  former  Commandant  of  Detroit,  in  1 743,  allowed 
men  and  supplies  to  go  from  Detroit  to  open  a 
trade  at  White  River  with  a  body  of  Senecas, 
Onondagas  and  others  of  the  Five  Nations,  who 
had  settled  there  to  the  number  of  about  600,  and 
who  professed  friendship.  Robert  Navarre  was 
sent  out  to  examine  and  report  on  the  prospects. 
Beauharnois  and  Hocquart  directed  M.  de  Lon- 
gueuil,  then  in  command   at    Detroit,  to  send    out 


100 


TRADE  AT    DETROIT   INJURED.  [Chap.  VI 


goods  and  supplies  on  the  King's  account,  and 
expressed  themselves  as  desirous,  since  the  settle- 
ment could  not  be  broken  up,  of  getting  it,  if 
possible,  to  be  friendly.  But  there  was  evidently 
suspicion  of  mischief.1 

In  1 744,  the  hostilities  existing  made  it  neces- 
sary to  make  preparations,  and  Longueuil  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  the  adhesion  of  the  nations 
near  Detroit,  and  sent  out  Indian  forces  to  prevent 
the  English  traders  from  reaching  White  River, 
as  well  as  to  guard  the  approaches  to  the  Ohio. 
Celoron  and  Joncaire  were  able  for  a  time  to 
ensure  the  neutrality  of  several  of  the  New  York 
bands  of  Senecas  and  others.2 

But  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country 
operated  injuriously  on  Detroit.  In  1745,  com- 
plaint was  made  by  Beauharnois,  in  his  letters  to 
France,  that  the  licenses  to  trade  at  Detroit  and 
Mackinaw  could  hardly  be  given  away,  although 
those  places  were  not  well  supplied ;  and  he 
expressed  misgivings  as  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Indians  when  trade  should  fall  off.3  About  the 
same  time  the  country  was  troubled  by  deserters 
and  renegades  from  Louisiana,  who  found  their 
way  up  to  Detroit  and  its  vicinity.  The  Chevalier 
de  Longueuil,  who  was  at  this  time  decorated 
with  the  Cross  of  St.  Louis  for  his  services,  was 
very  active  and  energetic,  and  did  much  to 
keep  the  country  quiet.  But  some  of  the  Detroit 
Indians  held  back.4 

*  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  1099.  3  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  St. 

9  9  N.  Y.  Doc,  1111,1112.  4  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  34,  37,  38. 


Chap.  VI. j  SERIOUS   TROUBLES  101 

The  supply  of  provisions  from  the  lands  about 
Detroit  began  to  fail,  and  for  a  while  there  was 
danger  of  suffering  on  this  account.  The  Hurons 
became  mutino.us,  and  it  was  evident  they  had 
been  effectually  tampered  with.1  In  1747,  Father 
Potier  was  obliged  to  leave  Bois-blanc  and  go  up 
to  Detroit.  They  committed  outrages  in  various 
places,  killing  several  Frenchmen  at  Sandusky. 
They  had  also  planned  a  massacre  of  the  people 
in  the  fort  at  Detroit,  which  was  overheard  by  a 
squaw,  by  whom  it  was  revealed  to  a  Jesuit  lay- 
brother,  who  informed  Longueuil.  The  rising  was 
general,  and  manifestations  were  made  in  all  parts 
of  Michigan  and  the  Northwest.  Longueuil 
succeeded  in  persuading  a  deputation  of  several 
tribes  to  go  with  Bellestre  to  Quebec  to  confer 
with  the  Governor.  Among  these  were  the  great 
chiefs  Sastaretsi  and  Taychatin.  After  his 
departure  the  Hurons  held  a  council,  in  which 
they  desired  Father  de  la  Richardie  to  be  sent  up. 
Arrangements  were  made  that  he  should  accom- 
pany Bellestre  to  Detroit.  Unfortunately,  both 
the  chiefs  died   before  these  gentlemen   started.2 

The  year  1747  was  one  of  constant  trouble 
about  Detroit.  The  Indians  who  had  agreed  to 
attack  the  Huron  village  at  Bois-blanc,  when  the 
troubles  broke  out,  refused  to  do  so.  Longueuil, 
however,  had  succeeded  in  getting  the  upper  hand 
of  the  Miamis  and  others  to  the  southward,  and 
they  sent  to  sue  for  peace.      Three  of  the  treach- 

1  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  38,  83,  114,  115,  119.  2  Id.,  123,  124. 


102 


INDIAN   OUTRAGES.  [Chap.  VI. 


erous  Huron  chiefs,  Nicolas,  Orotoni  and  Anioton, 
who  had  been  most  deeply  implicated,  came  also 
for  the  same  purpose.  While  these  were  at 
Detroit,  news  came  that  a  party  had  waylaid  three 
Frenchmen  at  Grosse  He,  and  attempted  to 
murder  them.  The  Frenchmen  themselves  soon 
appeared,  wounded,  but  not  fatally.  Longueuil 
immediately  sent  a  force  of  thirty  men  after  the 
marauders.  The  deputies,  fearing  for  themselves, 
informed  the  Commander  that  the  criminals  were 
concealed  at  Bois-blanc,  and  volunteered  to  arrest 
them.  Longueuil  accepted  their  offer,  and  gave 
them  ten  more  men  to  accompany  them.  They 
overtook  the  first  detachment,  and  brought  back 
the  five  Indians  to  the  fort.  They  turned  out  to 
be  one  Onondaga,  as  leader,  one  Huron,  one 
Seneca,  and  two  Mohegans.  The  populace  killed 
the  leader  as  soon  as  he  landed.  The  rest  were 
confined  in  the  fort  in  irons.  This  event  created 
great  excitement  among  the  Ohio  Indians,  but 
Longueuil  pacified  them,  insisting  however,  on 
retaining  the  prisoners,  and  giving  the  nations  to 
understand  the  fate  of  these  depended  on  the 
conduct  of  the  tribes.  On  the  morning  of  the 
29th  of  December,  1 747,  the  Seneca  was  found 
dead,  it  being  doubtful  whether  he  killed  himself 
or  was  killed  by  the  Huron,  who  was  to  kill  him- 
self also.  It  turned  out  they  had  all  nearly 
succeeded  in  escaping,  as  they  had  loosened 
their  irons  and  prepared  to  kill  the  guard. 

Afterwards,    in    February,   1748,  Longueuil    re- 


Chap.  VI.]  HURON  MISSION.  1  03 

leased  the  three  survivors,  upon  the  request  of 
formal  deputations  of  northern  and  southern 
tribes,  and  upon  very  fair  promises.  He  did  this 
against  the  wishes  and  protests  of  the  French  at 
Detroit,  and  was  censured  by  the  Governor  Gen- 
eral. But  the  event  proved  fortunate,  as  the  In- 
dians sought  eagerly  to  show  their  sincerity  by 
taking  the  war-path  ;  and  he  had  no  further  serious 
trouble  with  them,  although  there  were  some  abor- 
tive attempts  made  here  and  there  to  do  mischief.' 
In  April,  1748,  Galissonniere  reports  prospects  of 
future  tranquility.2 

In  1748,  it  was  questioned  whether  it  might 
not  be  well  to  remove  the  fort  to  Bois-blanc  ; 
but  it  was  not  thought  best  to  do  so,  as  the  In- 
dians had  settled  at  Detroit.  The  Huron  Mission 
was  re-established,3  under  strong  recommendations 
from  the  Governor  to  renew  it,  but  with  great 
precautions  to  have  it  in  a  safe  place  ;  and  at  this 
time  it  was  accordingly  removed,  to  the  present 
town  of  Sandwich,  opposite  the  western  part  of 
the  city  of  Detroit.  Father  de  la  Richardie  became 
attached  to  it,  at  the  Governor's  request.  Father 
Potier  also  appears  to  have  remained  with  it.  A 
church  was  built  of  respectable  dimensions,  which, 
until  about  twenty  years  ago,  was  the  place  of 
worship  of  the  Catholic  population  of  that  region. 
It  was  then  taken  down, — a  commodious  and  spa- 

»  10  N.  Y.  Narratives  of  1747- 1748,  passim. 

2  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  133. 

3  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  162,  148. 


104 


MEMOIR  ON  THE  COLONIES.  [Chap.  VI. 


cious  brick  church  having  been  built  in  its  imme- 
diate vicinity.  The  point  at  Sandwich  where  they 
settled  is  named  in  the  Governors  report  "  Point 
Montreal."1  This  name  is  not  retained,  and  has 
not  been  noted  except  in  that  document. 

In  October,  the  Governor  instructed  Longueuil 
that,  although  the  French  and  English  were  at 
peace,  the  English,  if  seeking  to  settle  on  the  Ohio, 
White  or  Rock  Rivers,  or  any  of  their  tributaries, 
must  be  resisted  by  force.2  He  expressed  the 
strongest  convictions  of  the  importance  of  Mack- 
inaw and  Detroit.3 

In  December,  1750,  the  late  Governor,  De  la 
Galissonniere,  who  had  been  succeeded  by  De  la 
Jonquiere,  prepared  an  elaborate  memoir  on  the 
French  colonies,  which  is  one  of  the  most  enlight- 
ened documents  ever  written  on  that  subject.4  He 
pointed  out  the  utility  of  colonies,  and  the  reasons 
why  the  French^  with  less  population,  had  obtained 
advantages  over  the  English  in  dealing  with  the 
Indians  ;  which  he,  as  well  as  the.  English  officials 
in  this  country,  attributed  to  the  habits  of  the 
French  inhabitants  in  woodcraft,  and  in  living  with 
and  like  the  Indians.  But  he  warned  the  Govern- 
ment that  this  was  accidental,  and  could  not  always 
be  relied   on. 

After  noting  the  weak  points  as  well  as 
advantages    of    various    places,    he    makes    special 

1  10  N.  Y.  Doc  ,  178.  3  10  N.  Y.  Doc  ,  183-4. 

2  10  N.  Y.  Doc  ,  179.  4  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  220. 


Chap.  VI.]  GALISSONNIERE'S  MEMOIR.  105 

I 

reference  to  Detroit.  "This  last  place  demands 
now  the  greatest  attention.  Did  it  once  contain 
a  farming  population  of  a  thousand,  it  would  feed 
and  defend  all  the  rest.  Throughout  the  whole 
interior  of  Canada  it  is  the  best  adapted  for  a 
town,  where  all  the  trade  of  the  lakes  would  con- 
centrate; were  it  provided  with  a  good  garrison 
and  surrounded  by  a  goodly  number  of  settle- 
ments, it  would  be  enabled  to  overawe  almost  all 
the  Indians  of  the  Continent.  It  is  sufficient  to 
see  its  position  on  the  map  to  understand  its 
utility.  It  would  stand  on  the  River  St.  Lawrence 
within  reach  of  the  Oyo,  the  Illinois,  the  River 
Mississippi,  and  in  a  position  to  protect  all  these 
different  places,  and  even  the  posts  north  of  the 
Lakes." 

He  concludes  his  memoir  by  urging  that  "the 
resolution  ought  to  be  adopted  to  send  a  great 
many  people  to  New  France,  in  order  to  enable 
those  who  have  the  administration  thereof,  to 
work  at  the  same  time  at  the  different  proposed 
forts.  These  people  ought  to  be  principally  sol- 
diers, who  can  in  a  very  short  time  be  converted 
into  good  settlers." 

He  suggests  that  some  faux-saulniers,  and 
even  a  few  paupers  might  be  sent,  the  latter  to 
be  very  sparingly  furnished  as  needed.  Other 
persons  of  doubtful  character  should  not  be  sent 
unless  called  for. 

Many  suggestions  are  made  as  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  profitable    industries.       In    this    regard 


106  NEW  SETTLERS.  [Chap.  VI. 

f 

there  was  a  great  contrast  between  the  French 
and  English.  The  whole  current  of  Parliamentary 
and  Royal  regulation  was  towards  preventing  the 
English  colonies  from  producing  anything  but  raw 
material.  Manufactures  were  obstructed  and 
prohibited.  In  New  France  there  was  constant 
encouragement  to  industry,  and  the  restrictions 
were  confined  to  the  fur  trade  and  dealings  with 
the  Indians. 

In  1750  and  1 75 1 ,  in  pursuance  of  these  views 
and  of  previous  similar  suggestions,  a  consider- 
able number  of  settlers  were  sent  out,  and 
advances  were  made  to  them  by  the  government 
until  they  were  able  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
They  prospered  after  they  had  become  fairly 
settled.  But  in  1752,  it  appears  that  provisions 
were  scarce,  so  that  Indian  corn  reached  twenty 
livres  a  bushel  in  peltries,  and  it  was  feared  some 
of  the  Canadians  would  have  to  be  sent  away. 
The  Hurons  and  other  Indians  on  whom  reliance 
had  been  formerly  had  for  corn,  could  not,  from 
recent  disturbances,  have  been  able  to  furnish  it; 
and  the  Commandant  at  the  Illinois  would  not 
permit  provisions  to  be  sent  thence.1  Both 
Celoron  and  Longueuil  had  been  censured  for 
not  being  more  alert  in  furthering  the  Ohio  expe- 
ditions, but  this  was  perhaps  the  reason.2  Famine 
was  not  the  only  danger  at  Detroit.  The  small 
pox  also  began  its  ravages  in  the  adjacent  villages 
of  the  Ottawas  and  Potawatamies. 

1  10  N.  V    Doc,  249.  *  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  249. 


Chap.  VI.]  DETROIT  ENLARGED  107 

About  this  time  the  fort  and  stockade  at 
Detroit  were  considerably  enlarged.  In  1750,  the 
Chevalier  de  Repentigny  began  his  settlement, 
and  built  a  fort  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  In  1754, 
reference  was  made  by  Duquesne  to  his  progress 
in  that  work,  which  "was  essential  for  stopping 
all  the  Indians  who  came  down  from  Lake 
Superior  to  go  to  Choueguen,  but  I  do  not  hear 
that  this  post  yields  a  great  revenue."1 

In  1755,  Vaudreuil,  writing  to  France  to  Ma- 
chault,  the  Minister  of  the  Marine,  makes  the  fol- 
lowing reference  to  the  settlement  at  Detroit:  "I 
doubt  not,  my  Lord,  but  you  have  been  informed 
of  the  excellence  of  the  Detroit  lands.  That  post 
is  considerable,  well  peopled,  but  three  times  more 
families  than  it  possesses  could  be  easily  located 
there.  The  misfortune  is  that  we  have  not  enough 
of  people  in  the  colony.  I  shall  make  arrange- 
ments to  favor  the  settlement  of  two  Sisters  of 
the  Congregation  at  that  post,  to  educate  the 
children,  without  costing  the  King  a  penny."2 

In  1759,  Bigot,  the  Intendant,  stated  that  the 
settlers  of  1 750-1  had  taken  care  of  themselves 
and  been  selling  wheat  since  1754,  from  which 
time  they  had  entailed  no  expense '  on  the  crown.3 

During  the  border  war  that  was  going  on  be- 
tween the  French  and  English,  in  the  settlements 
and  regions  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Lakes,  the 
Detroit    militia    appear    to    have    taken    an  active 

*  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  263.  3  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  1048. 

2  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  376. 


108  DIFFICULTIES   WITH   ENGLISH.  [Chap    VI 

part,  and  the  number  of  French  soldiers — apart 
from  the  Indians — must  have  been  quite  large.1 
Bellestre  was  especially  active,  and  commanded  in 
several  sharp  engagements.  The  Reports  speak 
of  him  repeatedly  with  very  high  encomiums.  The 
supplies  for  the  operations  on  the  Ohio,  and  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  came  largely  from  De- 
troit. 

Before  hostilities  broke  out  there  was  much 
crimination  and  recrimination  between  the  Cana- 
dian Government  and  the  English  authorities  in 
New  York,  the  former  accusing  British  emissaries 
with  conspiring  to  assassinate  the  Commander  at 
Detroit,  and  the  latter  charging  similar  misdeeds 
on  the  French.2  The  old  dispute  was  also  renewed 
in  regard  to  priority  of  claim  to  Detroit,  which 
had  been  so  bitter  in  the  early  part  of  the  century.3 
Colden,  Delancey,  and  Pownall,  in  various  ways, 
urged  the  necessity  of  getting  control  of  this  re- 
gion.4 Pownall  referred  to  it  at  length  in  the 
Albany  Congress  of  1754,  which  was  intended  to 
unite  the  English  colonies  in  a  confederation  for 
general  defence,  and  the  management  of  their 
common  interests.5 

When  the  English  performed  the  cruel  deed 
of  banishing  the  Acadians  from  their  homes,  and 
scattering  families  as  well  as  communities,  with  a 
cold-blooded   inhumanity  that    no  excuse  can  miti- 

»  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  425.  4  6  N.  Y.  Doc,  990. 

2  6  N.  Y.  Doc,  105,  107,  489,  493,  579.  5  6  N.  Y.  Doc,  893. 

3  6  N.  Y.  Doc,  743,  773,  731. 


Chap    VI.] 


SURRENDER  109 


gate,  some  of  the  unfortunate  victims  found  a 
refuge  in  Detroit,  as  well  as  in  other  French  set- 
tlements. The  beautiful  story  of  Evangeline  is  a 
sad  but   not    exaggerated  tale  of   these    atrocities. 

As  the  war  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  drew 
towards  its  close,  Bellestre  was  chosen  to  take 
charge  of  the  post  of  Detroit,1  and  to  gather  in 
all  the  western  forces  to  preserve  it  at  all  events. 
He  had  been  in  command  there  for  some  years, 
but  was  too  valuable  a  man  to  leave  unemployed; 
and  so  long  as  there  was  any  service  to  be  done 
elsewhere  he  was  given  large  powers.  Vaudreuil, 
in  June,  1760,  wrote  to  the  French  Minister 
Berryer :  "  M.  de  Bellestre  is  preparing  to  receive 
the  English,  who  I  think  are  not  going  to  Detroit ; 
it  may  cost  them  very  dear,  because  all  the  na- 
tions are  disposed  to  join  the  French."2 

But,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1760,  the  whole 
Province  was  surrendered.  In  November,  1760, 
Major  Robert  Rogers,  with  a  force  consisting  of 
part  of  the  60th  (Royal  Americans)  and  80th 
regiments,  appeared  below  the  town  and  demanded 
its  surrender.  The  Commandant  was  justly  aston- 
ished, and  in  no  way  inclined  to  accept  the  truth 
of  the  capitulation  of  a  post  he  had  been  so  care- 
fully warned  to  defend.  But  the  evidence  was 
unanswerable,  and  he  was  compelled  to  submit ; 
and  the  British  flag  was  raised  over  the  astounded 
settlement. 

1  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  1093.  2  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  1094. 


110  PIQUOTE  DE  BELLESTRE.  [Chap.  VI. 

Francois  Marie,  commonly  called  and  signing 
himself  Piquote  de  Bellestre,  was  so  highly  es- 
teemed by  the  French  authorities,  that  it  seems 
strange  to  find  him  spoken  of  lightly  by  some  of 
our  writers  as  a  fanfaron  and  a  man  of  small 
account.  There  are  few  names  so  often  and  so 
honorably  mentioned  during  the  period  of  his 
entire  manhood.  He  was  head  of  one  of  the 
oldest  houses  of  Canada,  and  was  a  Knight  of  St. 
Louis.  Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the 
Legislative  Council  of  Lower  Canada,  under  the 
Royal  proclamation  of  1763,  he  was  made  one  of 
its  members,  and  was  also  Superintendent  of 
Public  Ways.  In  1775,  the  Canadian  noblesse 
were  enrolled  under  his  command,  and  he  did 
notable  service  to  the  British,  in  opposing  the 
American  invasion  at  St.  Jean,  for  which  he 
received  public  thanks  from  the  commanding  gen- 
eral. He  lived  to^a  good  old  age,  and  saw  the 
inauguration  of  the  new  government  of  Lower 
Canada  in  1791.  He  left  no  son.  His  daughter 
married  Major  Mc  Donell,  of  the  British  Army. 

As  the  last  of  the  French  Commanders,  he 
deserves  a  prominent  place  in  the  History  of 
Michigan. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MICHIGAN    UNDER    BRITISH    MILITARY    RULE. 

The  assumption  of  possession  of  Michigan  by 
the  English,  when  there  was  but  a  single  town, 
properly  so  called,  and  when  the  settlers  near  it 
were  few  in  number,  and  all  within  a  line  of  ten 
miles  long,  did  not  give  occasion  for  any  imme- 
diate change  of  legal  systems.  In  fact  there  was 
so  little  for  law  to  operate  upon,  that  the  people 
knew  nothing  about  its  niceties.  By  the  articles 
of  capitulation  of  Montreal,  those  Frenchmen  who 
chose  to  do  so  could  leave  the  colony,  and, 
under  some  limitations,  dispose  of  their  estates. 
Repentigny  would  not  stay  in  America,  but  went 
to  France,  and  his  infant  colony  almost  disap- 
peared. In  May,  1762,  Alexander  Henry  found 
there  a  stockaded  fort  and  four  houses,  which 
had  formerly  been  used  by  the  Governor,  inter- 
preter and  garrison.  At  this  time  there  remained 
but  one  family,  that  of  Mr.  Cadotte,  the  inter- 
preter, whose  wife  was  a  Chippewa.  During  that 
season  Lieutenant  Jamette  arrived  with  a  small 
detachment  to  garrison  the  fort.  In  December  of 
that  year,  all  but  one  of  the  houses  were  burned, 


112  MACKINAW.     DETROIT.  [Chap.  VII. 

and  a  part  of  the  stockade,  which  was  just  below 
the  rapids. 

The  Island  of  Michilimackinac  was  at  this 
time  the  seat  of  a  Chippewa  village.  The  fort 
was,  where  it  had  been  in  Charlevoix's  time,  south 
of  the  strait.  When  the  French  garrison  aban- 
doned it,  there  was  a  time  during  which  it  was 
not  looked  after  at  all;  but  there  were  some 
French  inhabitants.  The  fort  was  built  of  cedar 
pickets,  and  had  an  area  of  two  acres.  It  stood 
so  near  the  beach  that  the  waves  beat  against 
the  stockade  in  a  high  wind.  Within  the  enclosure 
were  thirty  neat  and  commodious  houses,  and  a 
church.  There  were  two  small  brass  cannon 
which  had  been  captured  by  the  Canadians  on 
some  raid  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  country.1 

The  population  of  Detroit  and  its  vicinage 
has  been  variously  estimated.  Rogers  estimated  it 
at  2,500,  with  300  dwellings.  Croghan,  in  1764, 
says  there  were  300  or  400  families.  There  must 
have  been  a  considerable  settlement,  as  a  large 
force  was  sent  up  and  quartered  there  until  re- 
duced by  detachments.  All  the  accounts  are 
somewhat  unreliable  as  they  seldom  define  the  ex- 
tent of  the  settlement.  Very  few,  if  any,  of  the 
population  left  the  country  after  the  surrender. 
Some  went  to  Illinois.  Bellestre  and  his  garrison 
were  escorted  to  the  East.  The  settlement  was 
on  both  sides  of  the  Strait,  extending  to  Lake  St. 
Clair. 

*  Henry,  40,  41. 


Chap.  VII.]  PANIS.     BUFFALOES. 


113 


There  were  in  this,  as  in  other  parts  of  the 
colony,  a  good  many  slaves.  A  very  few  were  of 
African  descent.  Most  were  Panis  or  Pawnees, 
who  were  originally  captives  brought  by  the  In- 
dians from  the  west  and  south,  and  most  of 
them  belonging  to  distant  tribes.  Such  captives 
included  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  Pawnees,  Osages, 
and  some  others,  but  the  name  Pani  was  applied 
to  all  Indians  in  slavery.  The  treaty  of  peace 
secured  the  title  to  these  servants  as  of  other 
property,  and  the  old  records  contain  many  refer- 
ences to  them  and  conveyances  of  them.  They 
continued  to  be  kept  after  the  American  posses- 
sion, and  the  last  of  the  race  that  our  generation 
has  known  was  (though  not  then  a  slave)  in  the 
service  of  Governor  Woodbridge  a  few  years 
since.1 

At  the  time  of  the  change  of  sovereignty,  in 
1760,  the  wilderness  had  not  been  encroached 
upon,  and,  besides  a  great  abundance  of  other  game, 
buffaloes  were  very  numerous  in  the  Lower  Penin- 
sula, and  for  many  years  after  were  found  in  herds 
along  the  River  Raisin,  and  all  through  the  oak 
opening  and  prairie  country. 

The  Treaty  of  Peace  was  not  signed  until 
1763.  Till  then  no  regulations  were  adopted  by 
the  Crown  for  the  government  of  the  country, 
and   it  was   under   the   control  of   General   Gage ; 

1  Judge  Burnet,  in  his  u  Notes  on  the  Northwest,"  speaks  of  the  Detroit 
Pawnee  servants  as  exceptionally  good  and  docile. 

8 


114  CHABERT   DE  JONCAIRE.  [Chap.  VII. 

but  he  was  much  aided  by  the  judicious  counsels 
of  Sir  William  Johnson,  whose  advice  was  always 
honest  and  generally  wise,  but  not  always  heeded. 

The  most  active  and  intelligent  Frenchman  of 
consequence,  who  continued  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  was  the  Chevalier  Chabert  de  Joncaire,  a 
celebrated  partisan  leader  among  the  French,  who 
had  great  influence  with  the  Senecas,  and  acted 
on  occasion  as  interpreter.  He  was  an  object  of 
suspicion  to  the  English  after  the  conquest,  and 
received  frequent  mention  in  the  reports.  He 
afterwards  became  an  officer  in  the  British  service, 
and  was  active  among  the  Indians  in  the  British 
interest  during  Wayne's  campaign.  After  the 
Americans  took  possession,  he  was  always  reckoned 
a  worthy  citizen,  and  was  one  of  the  first  dele- 
gates from  Wayne  County  to  the  Legislature  of 
the  Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio,  in  1799.  He 
was  then  generally  known  as  Colonel  Chabert, 
though  using  for  his  signature  his  name  of  Jon- 
caire.1 

As  soon  as  Montreal  capitulated,  Major  Rob- 
ert Rogers,  who  had  gained  reputation  as  a  par- 
tisan ranger,  was  appointed  to  accompany  the 
detachments  which  were  to  take  possession  of  the 
western  posts.  A  large  part  of  the  forces  con- 
sisted of   several   companies  of  the  60th  or  Royal 

1  His  father  and  grandfather,  like  himself,  appear  to  have  had  much  to 
do  with  the  Senecas  and  other  New  York  Indians,  and  to  have  acted  as 
agents  and  interpreters  in  some  of  their  negotiations  His  name  seems  to 
have  puzzled  both  Dutch  and  English,  who  write  it  sometimes  asJohnCceur, 
and  Jean  Caire,  but  seldom  correctly. 


Chap.  VII. j  ROYAL  AMERICANS.  115 

American  Regiment,  officered  chiefly  by  American 
gentlemen  from  New  York  and  other  Eastern 
colonies,  several  of  them  of  Scottish  birth  or  des- 
cent. Colonel  George  Croghan,  who  had  long 
experience  with  the  Indians,  accompanied  the  ex- 
pedition. On  their  way  up  in  Ohio,  near  Cuya- 
hoga River,  they  encountered  Pontiac,  the  great 
chief  of  the  Ottawas,  who  had  for  more  than 
twenty  years  kept  his  village  a  little  above  Detroit, 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river.  After  a  parley 
he  parted  with  them  peaceably,  and  with  apparent 
friendliness.  In  November,  1760,  as  before  men- 
tioned, after  some  difficulty  in  persuading  Bellestre 
that  the  Province  had  capitulated,  Rogers  took 
possession  of    Detroit. 

The  officers  of  the  60th  seem  to  have  been 
much  better  qualified  to  deal  with  the  Indians 
than  some  of  their  associates.  Sir  William  John- 
son, whose  correspondence  on  Indian  affairs  marks 
him  as  a  just  man,  repeats  over  and  over  again 
his  complaints  that  the  hostility  of  the  Indians 
was  originally  excited  and  always  kept  up,  by  the 
arrogance  and  insolence  of  the  English.  In  1 768, 
reviewing  the  course  of  the  past  few  years,  he  re- 
curred to  this  in  reference  to  the  Pontiac  War.1 
And  it  is  mentioned  in  one  of  the  Reports,  that 
on  the  first  expedition  this  spirit  was  offensively 
manifest.  Rogers  and  Croghan  were  better  skilled 
in  dealing  with  the  savages,  and  the  officers  of  the 
60th  were  generally  well  thought  of   in  the  coun-: 

«  8  N.  Y.  Doc,  85. 


116 


DETROIT  TRADERS.  [Chap.  VII. 


try.     Some  of  them,  however,  knew  very  little  of 
the  Indians. 

Captain  Donald  Campbell,  of  the  6oth,  was 
made  first  commandant,  and  continued  in  command 
till  superseded  by  Major  Gladwin,  his  superior  in 
rank,  in   1763. 

Immediately  in  the  train  of  the  expedition, 
came  traders  from  Albany,  who  got  a  very  early 
foothold  in  the  country.  They  were  mostly  Dutch, 
and  bore  names  still  familiar  in  New  York.  There 
were  also  some  roving  English  traders,  whom  Sir 
William  Johnson  refers  to  with  much  bitterness. 
In  his  elaborate  Review,  of  September,  1767,  he 
mentions  numerous  instances  of  the  mischief  done 
by  the  greedy  and  unscrupulous  adventurers,  who 
cheated  and  deceived  the  Indians  and  made  all 
Englishmen  obnoxious  to  the  savages.1 

The  greatest  number  of  permanent  traders 
who  finally  settled  in  Detroit  were  of  Scottish 
birth  or  origin,  and  their  eastern  connections  were 
principally  with  Schenectady  and  Albany.  These 
gentlemen  obtained  and  kept  a  great  ascendancy 
among  the  Indians.  They  came  mostly  after  the 
Pontiac  war. 

Sir  J effery  Amherst  stated  in  1762,  that  up  to 
that  time  trade  had  been  entirely  free.2  It  appears, 
however,  that  passes  were  required  to  go  into  the 
Indian  country,  but  they  were  at  first  granted  al- 
most as  a  matter  of    course.     Under    the    King's 

1  7  N.  Y.  Doc  ,  953,  et  seq.  2  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  508. 


Chap   VII.]  TREATY  RIGHTS. 


117 


proclamation  of  1763,  they  issued  to  all  who  gave 
security.1  The  Albany  merchants  appear  to  have 
been  quite  arrogant  in  their  claims.2 

While  the  access  to  Detroit  was  made  easy,  very 
few  were  allowed  to  go  into  the  upper  country. 
The  French  who  remained  in  that  region,  as  well 
as  in  the  Illinois  country  and  Detroit  were  not 
contented,  and  were  in  many  instances  very  active 
in  stirring  up  the  Indians.  As  early  as  June,  1761, 
General  Gage  had  discovered  that  Pontiac  was 
busy  in  the  French  interest,  and  Alexander  Henry 
on  this  account  had  great  trouble  in  procuring 
permission  to  go  to  Mackinaw.3  The  Indians  did 
not  regard  themselves  as  subject  to  be  disposed 
of  by  French  and  English  treaties,  and  were  very 
partial  to  their  old  friends. 

A  period  of  eighteen  months  after  the  Definit- 
ive Treaty  of  1763  was  allowed  to  the  inhabitants, 
to  determine  whether  to  remain  in  the  colony  or 
remove  to  France  ;  and  they  were  allowed  to  sell 
their  lands,  on  such  removal,  to  British  subjects. 
Many  Acadians  had  come  into  Canada  to  escape 
the  oppression  which  they  had  met  at  home,  and 
efforts  were  made  to  secure  to  them  the  same 
terms  given  to  the  Canadians  ;  but  the  preliminary 
capitulation  rejected  these,  and  left  them  in  many 
respects  at  the  mercy  of  the  British.  The  Definit- 
ive Treaty  seems  to  have  put  them  all  on  sub- 
stantially  the    same  footing,  and    it   is    not   known 

1  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  535,  637.  3  Henry,  n. 

2  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  613. 


118  FRENCH    DISAFFECTION.  [Chap.  VII. 

that  any  difference  was  afterwards  made  between 
them.  The  inhabitants  of  French  descent  for  a 
long  time  regarded  themselves  as  treated  with 
quite    impartial    harshness. 

The  French  inhabitants  had  hoped  that  Canada 
might  be  restored  to  France.  In  1763,  a  plan  of 
insurrection  is  found  to  have  been  communicated 
to  the  French  Government,1  but  there  was  little 
material  except  Indians  to  work  with,  since  the 
French  officers  had  then  mostly  left  the  country. 
Nevertheless,  there  is  no  doubt  the  interval 
between  the  fall  of  Montreal  and  the  final  pacifi- 
cation of  Canada,  was  filled  with  plots  and  schemes 
to  shake  off  the  English  yoke.  Joncaire  was  very 
active,  and  others  less  noted.  The  garrison  and 
traders  in  Detroit,  in  their  correspondence,  show 
a  very  uneasy  feeling  in  regard  to  their  Canadian 
neighbors,  who  were  unmistakably  disgusted  with 
the  change  of  government,  although  having  no 
particular  reason  for  ill-will  against  their  own 
garrison.  Sir  William  Johnson,  when  in  Detroit, 
in  1 761,  did  what  he  could  to  secure  a  pleasant 
state  of  things  with  the  tribes,  but  went  home  full 
of  misgivings.2  When  Alexander  Henry  went  to 
the  upper  country  that  year,  he  found  it  necessary 
to  disguise  himself  to  save  his  life  from  the  savages ; 
and  even  at  Mackinaw  he  was  in  constant 
danger  until  the  troops  came  up  under  Ether- 
ington  and  Leslie.  Lieutenant  Gorrell,  who  was 
sent  on  to  Green  Bay  with    the    same    expedition, 

1  10  N.  Y.  Doc,  1 157.  2  7  n.  Y.  Doc,  525,  575. 


Chap.  VII.]  CONDUCT   OF  THE   INDIANS.  119 

found  himself  unable  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
Indians  for  what  they  claimed  to  be  the  customary 
presents ;  and  the  Commandant  at  Detroit  had 
not  means  to  supply  him.  The  Green  Bay  Indians, 
however,  were  from  the  first  quite  friendly,  while 
the  deadliest  hatred  towards  the  English  was 
among  the  Chippewas.  The  northern  Ottawas, 
whom  we  generally  in  later  times  have  been 
accustomed  to  regard  as  practically  united  with 
the  latter,  were  then  not  so  disposed,  and  in  more 
than  one  instance  prevented  the  Chippewas  from 
doing  mischief.  The  conduct  of  the  Sakis  or  Sacs 
and  Ottawas  at  L'Arbre  Croche  in  befriending 
Captain  Etherington  and  Gorrell,  with  their  asso- 
ciates, after  the  massacre  at  Mackinaw,  in  1 763, 
was  very  warmly  commended  by  Sir  William  John- 
son and  the  colonial  office.1  Pontiac  himself  was 
a  chief  of  the  Ottawas,  and  his  band  adhered  to 
him ;  but  they  were  a  more  humane  and  civil- 
ized race  than  the  Chippewas,  and  the  northern 
Ottawas  were  not  always  in  the  closest  relations 
with  all  of  the  other  bands.  Some  doubts  have 
been  expressed  by  careless  writers  about  Pontiac's 
tribal  relations.  But  in  the  Mission  Records  of 
1742  he  is  mentioned  as  chief  of  the  Ottawas, 
near  Detroit.  A  chief  of  the  same  name — per- 
haps a  relative — is  found  among  the  Ottawa  signers 
of  the  treaty  made  at  the  Miami  Rapids  in  181 7, 
though  his  reputed  nephew,  the  celebrated  cen- 
tenarian  Okemos,   was   a   chief  of  the   Chippewas. 

1  Gorrell's  Narrative.     7  N.  Y.  Doc,  543,  552,  561. 


120  PONTIAC.  [Chap.  VII. 

In  1766,  Pontiac  executed  alone,  on  behalf  of  the 
Ottawa  Nation,  a  conveyance  to  Doctor  George 
Christian  Anthon,1  of  land  adjoining  his  village. 
As  this  was  done  at  a  public  treaty,  at  the  time 
when  he  made  his  peace  with  the  English,  and  in 
presence  of  Colonel  Croghan,  the  Indian  Superin- 
tendent, and  Colonel  Campbell,  the  Commander  of 
Detroit,  there  can  be  no  question  of  his  tribal 
position. 

Except  for  the  uneasiness  concerning  the  schemes 
of  Pontiac,  there  seems  to  have  been  nothing  im- 
portant in  the  affairs  of  Michigan  at  this  period. 
The  history  of  his  final  assault  upon  the  western 
posts,  and  its  terrible  success  at  all  of  them  except 
Detroit,  has  been  made  familiar  by  the  fascinating 
pages  of  Mr.  Parkman.  The  only  occupied  points 
in  the  territory  now  belonging  to  Michigan  were 
St.  Joseph,  Mackinaw  and  Detroit.  The  Sault  Ste. 
Marie  had  been  abandoned  before  the  outbreak. 
St.  Joseph  was  held  by  an  ensign  and  fourteen  men, 
who  were  suddenly  attacked  by  the  Potawatamies 
on  the  25th  of  May,  1763,  and  all  but  Ensign 
Schlosser  and  three  men  were  tomahawked. 
These  four  were  taken  to  Detroit  and  exchanged. 
At  Mackinaw,  Captain  Etherington,  in  spite  of  the 
plainest  and  surest  warnings,  neglected  all  precau- 
tions, and  was  entrapped  by  a  simple  contrivance. 


1  This  grant  was  made  in  token  of  the  good  will  of  the  Nation  to  Doc- 
tor Anthon,  probably  for  his  medical  services.  He  was  father  of  the  emin- 
ent scholars  Henry,  Charles  and  John  Anthon,  of  New  York,  some  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Detroit. 


Chap.  VII.]  MASSACRE  AT   MACKINAW.  121 

The  Indians  organized  a  great  game  of  baggattaway? 
or  la  a^osse,  (named  from  the  long  handled  net 
or  racket  with  which  the  ball  is  thrown  to  a 
great  distance.)  In  this  game  there  are  two  posts 
or  goals  at  a  long  distance  apart,  and  the  two 
parties  each  seek  to  drive  the  ball  to  opposite 
points.  Etherington  was  leisurely  observing  the 
game  (on  which  he  had  laid  wagers)  and,  as  if 
by  chance,  the  ball  was  thrown  into  the  fort,  and 
the  Indians  rushed  in  pell  mell2  after  it.  Once 
within  the  fort,  they  began  the  slaughter.  Ether- 
ington and  Lieutenant  Leslie,  with  a  handful  of 
men,  were  hurried  away  as  prisoners,  together 
with  Mr.  Bostwick,  a  trader  who  had  preceded 
Henry,  and  Father  Jonois,  the  missionary  at 
L'Arbre  Croche.  Henry  was  concealed  by  a 
Pani  woman  in  the  garret  of  Mr.  Langlade,  a 
Frenchman,  who  was  an  off-shoot  of  the  distin- 
guished colonial  family  of  that  name,  but  who 
showed  an  utter  want  of  common  humanity  in 
his  dealings  with  the  unfortunate  fugitive.  He 
was  finally  saved  by  the  intercession  of  an  Indian 
named  Wawatam,  who  had  become  attached  to  him 
and  adopted  him  as  his  brother.     The  Jesuit  mis- 

i  Pagaadozvan.  The  Indian  crosier  or  raquette,  with  which  the  game  is 
played.  Pagaadowewin  the  game  itself. — Baraga.  The  ball  is  called  pik- 
wakwad.—Id.  The  raquette  resembles  a  long  handled  battledore.  Charle- 
voix describes  two  games  of  ball  with  these  implements  — Letter  22. 

2  There  was  one  fashion  of  playing  the  old  English  game  of  pall  mall 
with  a  racket,  and  this,  term  pell-mell  may  have  been  derived  from  the  con- 
fused rush  which  is  always  made  for  the  ball  in  such  games,  as  in  the  game 
of  shinty,  (vulgo  shinny.)  See  quotations  under  "  Pall  Mall "  in  Richard* 
son1  s  Dictionary . 


122 


RESCUE  OF   PRISONERS.  [Ckap.  VII. 


sionary,  who  was  a  good  and  sensible  man,  was 
sent  to  Detroit  with  messages  to  Major  Gladwin. 
Henry  was  taken  to  the  Island  of  Mackinaw,  and 
concealed  for  a  time  in  Scull  Cave.  He  was 
afterwards  taken  safely  to  the  lower  lakes.  The 
other  captives  were  carried  to  L'Arbre  Croche, 
and  kindly  treated.  During  this  carnival  of  cru- 
elty, the  bodies  of  the  slain  were  boiled  and 
eaten  by  the  Indians,  and  Henry's  friend  Wawa- 
tam  partook  of  the  horrid  feast. 

Etherington  managed  to  send  a  letter  to 
Lieutenant  Gorrell,  at  Green  Bay.  That  gallant 
officer  gathered  a  force  of  friendly  Indians,  and 
set  out  to  the  rescue  of  his  comrades.  He 
stopped  near  Beaver  Island,  expecting  to  find 
them  there.  He  was  met  by  a  canoe  sent  out 
from  L'Arbre  Croche,  and  then  pushed  on  to 
meet  them  at  that  place.  By  the  good  offices  of 
the  Ottawas,  who  would  not  let  the  Chippewas 
stop  or  injure  them,  they  were  all  enabled  to 
reach  Montreal.1 

In  these  massacres  the  French  were  left  un- 
harmed, and  were  evidently  on  good  terms  with 
the  Indians.  Some  of  them  showed  the  qualities 
which  become  Christian  and  civilized  people. 
Some  of  them  betrayed  no  signs  of  humanity.  It 
is  wonderful  to  see  how  often  both  Frenchmen 
and  Englishmen  on  the  borders  have  not  only 
tolerated  but  encouraged  Indian  barbarities  against 
the  whites.       The    period    between    the    beginning 

1  Gorrell's  Narrative. 


Chap    Vll.]  WHITE  SAVAGES.  123 

of  the  American  Revolution  and  the  Battle  of  the 
Thames,  in  1813,  witnessed  many  cruel  scenes, 
for  which  men  of  standing  and  consequence  were 
far  more  responsible  than  the  red  men  whom 
they  stirred  up  to  mischief.  Few,  if  any,  of  the 
great  Indian  outbreaks  originated  with  the  sava- 
ges. No  more  indignant  complaints  against  this 
conduct  of  influential  Englishmen  were  ever  heard 
anywhere  than  those  of  leading  British  statesmen 
in  Parliament  against  the  use  of  such  barbarous 
instruments  for  the  slaughter  of  the  American 
settlers.  And  Tecumseh,  at  Fort  Meigs,  was 
active  in  restraining  barbarities,  which  he  rebuked 
General  Proctor  in  the  most  cutting  language  for 
allowing  and  encouraging. 

Detroit  alone  escaped  capture.  Pontiac  had 
been  very  cunning  in  preparing  a  device  to  enable 
him  and  his  warriors  to  get  within  the  fort  and 
destroy  the  English.  They  cut  their  gun  barrels 
short  and  concealed  them  under  their  blankets, 
and  sixty  head-men  thus  equipped  were  allowed 
to  enter  the  council  house,  their  followers  being 
left  outside  in  the  road,  waiting  for  the  signal. 
Major  Gladwin  had  been  warned,  and  had  heeded 
the  warning,  and  had  learned  what  was  to  be 
Pontiac's  signal  for  attack.  As  soon  as  he  noticed 
the  chief  preparing  for  it,  he  gave  a  sign,  and  at 
once  the  drums  beat  and  the  soldiers  handled 
their  guns.  The  great  chief  was  for  once  thrown 
off  his  balance,  and  could  not  conceal  his  chagrin. 
He    and     his     myrmidons     departed     with     lame 


124  PONTIAC  AT   DETROIT.  [Chap.  VII. 

explanations,  while  Gladwin  abstained  from  showing 
the  extent  of  his  knowledge  of  their  treachery. 
The  next  day  Pontiac  made  a  visit  of  ceremony, 
with  the  calumet  or  pipe  of  peace,  which  he  left 
with  Major  Campbell  on  his  departure  as  a  token 
of  sincerity.  That  afternoon  he  got  up  a  ball- 
play,  intending  a  stratagem  like  that  at  Mackinaw, 
but  the  garrison  were  on  their  guard  and  took 
no  part  in  it.  The  next  morning,  May  9th,  the 
French  inhabitants  went  to  mass  at  the  church 
above  the  town,  returning  before  11  o'clock,  and 
having  then  seen  no  signs  of  mischief.  But  the 
common  around  the  fort  was  soon  crowded  with 
a  multitude  of  warriors  of  all  the  neighboring 
tribes,  and  Pontiac  approached  the  gate  and 
asked  to  be  admitted.  He  was  told  that  he  could 
come  in  himself,  but  not  his  followers.  On  say- 
ing that  they  wished  to  smoke  the  calumet,  Glad- 
win gave  him  to  understand,  very  curtly  and 
plainly,  that  they  must  keep  out.  This  ended  the 
pantomime.  The  hate  and  wrath  of  the  savages 
were  no  longer  concealed  ;  but  they  did  not  begin 
the  war  by  attacking  soldiers.  They  first  ran 
across  the  common  to  the  cottage  of  an  old  En- 
glishwoman, and  killed  and  scalped  her  and  her 
family.  Hence  they  proceeded  up  the  river  to 
Hog    Island,1    and    there    found    an    old    English 


1  This  island  was  first  named  lie  a  Ste.  Claire.  Being  infested  with 
rattlesnakes,  several  hogs  were  turned  loose  on  the  is!and  to  destroy  them  ; 
and  in  time  they  in  turn  became  numerous  and  very  wild.  This  obtained  for 
it  the  name  of  Jle  aux  Cochons,  or  Hog  Island.  In  1845,  a  party  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  on  a  picnic  solemnly  named  it#Belle  Isle — its  present  title. 


Chap.  VII.]  ALEXIS  CUILLERIER.  125 

sergeant  named  James  Fisher,  whom  they  also 
murdered.  Tradition  says  that  the  dead  man's 
body,  which  was  decently  interred  by  Canadian 
neighbors,  would  not  rest,  though  covered  more 
than  once,  but  thrust  out  its  imploring  hands 
until    quieted    by    the    rites    of  the    church. 

A  curious  legal  episode  is  connected  with  this 
murder.  When  the  war  was  over,  a  Frenchman 
named  Alexis  Cuillerier  (an  ancestor  or  relative, 
it  is  believed,  of  the  Beaubien  family,  their  name 
being  properly  Cuillerier  de  Beaubien)  was  tried  by 
a  court  of  inquiry,  and  sentenced  to  banishment 
from  the  settlement  for  drowning  Fisher's  child. 
In  1769,  Captain  Turnbull  (then  commanding)  pub- 
lished an  order1  recalling  him  from  banishment, 
and  ordering  all  people  to  abstain  from  charging 
him  with  guilt.  The  order  recites  that  he  was 
convicted  on  the  testimony  of  a  false  witness, 
who  is  declared  to  have  been  found  guilty  of  in- 
famous  offences   and    utterly  unworthy   of  credit.2 

1  Wayne  County  Records,  A.,  91. 

2  This  curious  document,  having  been  issued  in  French  and  English, 
(both  originals),  is  subjoined  in  both  languages  as  recorded.  The  verbal  pe- 
culiarities were  probably  correctly  preserved.  The  French  copy  gives  the 
correct  name  of  the  accuser. 

"  By  George  Turnbull  Esqre  Capt.  in  His  Majesty's  60th  Regi- 
ment, Commanding  Detroit  &  its  Dependencies,  &c. 
Whereas  Mr.  Alexis  Cuillierie  has  been  wrongfully  accused  by  Jn°  Myer 
of  having  (during  the  Indian  War  of  1763)  been  Guilty  of  drowning  a  Child 
belonging  to  the  late  James  Fisher ;  the  many  Circumstancis  in  favour  of 
Mr.  Cuillierie  that  w'ere  at  that  time  desinedly  Conceal'd,  but  which  have  ap- 
peared since,  together  with  the  Testimony  of  several  Creditable  Inhabitants, 
Concerning  the  Infamous  Character  of  thatperjur'd  Villain  Jn°  Myer  who  has 


126  VINDICATION   OF  CUILLERIER.  [Chap.  VII. 

This  gentleman  was  very  intimate  with  Pontiac, 
and  Parkman  gives  a  description  of  him  as  a  fan- 

himself  since  given  a  very  Glaring  &  but  too  Strong  proof  of  said  Testimony 
by  premeditately  Murdering  James  Hill  Clark,  Trader  at  the  Miamis  River, 
these  and  many  other  sufficient  proofs  Convincing  me  throughly  of  Mr.  Cuil- 
lierrie's  Innocence,  I  was  determined  then  to  recall  him  and  revoke  the  or- 
ders Publish'd  to  his  prejudice  in  Consequence  of  said  fals  accusation  ;  but 
thought  it  best,  first  to  Communicate  the  Same  to  His  Excellency  General 
Gage,  Commander  in  Chief  of  all  His  Majesty's  Forces  in  North  America ; 
Now,  in  consequence  of  Orders  receiv'd  from  his  Excellency,  the  said  Mr. 
Alexis  Cuillierrie  is  permitted  to  return  and  remain  here  unmolested  as  soon 
as  he  pleases.  And  all  manner  of  Persons  are*  hereby  strictly  forbidden  to 
seize,  stop,  injure,  molest,  or  reproach  under  any  pretence  whatsoever  the 
said  Mr-  Cuillierrie  for  or  on  account  of  the  said  Malicious  &  fals  Accusation 
as  they  shall  answer  to  the  contrary  on  their  peril 

Given  under  my  Hand  and  Seal  at  Detroit,  June  4th,  1769. 
For  a  Coppy  sign'd  George  Turnbui-L.1' 

"  Par  George  Turnbull  Ecuyer  Capt  Commandant  Le  Detroit 
et  Ses  Dependences  &c. 
Comme  Mr-  Alexis  Cuillierier  a  ete  Injustement  accuze  par  Jean  Mayet, 
davoir  pendent  La  Guerre  Sauuage,  fait  noyer  un  Enfent,  appartenant  a  feu 
Jacques  fischer  et  que  maleuresement  toutes  Les  Circonstances  en  faveur  du 
susdt  Sr  Cuilheries  etoient  dans  Ce  temps  la  Malicieuzement  Cachees  Mais 
qui  ont  Depuis  paru  authentiquement  [par]  Le  temoignage  de  plusieurs 
Domicilies  Dun  Caractere  Irreprochable  Concernant  Linfame  Conduite  de 
Cet  Indigne  par  Jure  Jean  Mayet,  qui  a  par  lui  meme  donne  depuis  des 
preuves  Claires  et  Convinquentes  des  Temoignages  Cydessus  enplongean  ses 
perfides  Mains  dans  le  sang  de  Jacques  hill  Clark  Dans  la  riviere  des  Mis 
amis  tout  Cecy  et  plusieur  autres  preuues  Mayant  entierement  Con  vincu 
Delinnocence  du  Susdt  Sr  Cuillieries  Jetois  Determine  de  le  Rappeler  et 
anuller  Lordre  que  Javois  donne  et  fait  publier  Contre  luy  en  Consequence 
de  la  fausse  accusation.  Mais  ayant  pence,  quil  etoit  plus  apropos,  de  la 
Communiquer  a  son  Exelence  Le  General  Gage,  Commandant  en  Chef  de 
toutes  Les  forces  de  sa  Majeste  dans  Lamerique  du  nord  Maintenant  en 
Consequence  des  ordres  Recue  de  Son  Exelence ;  il  est  permis  au  - 
susdt  Sr-  Alexis  Cuillieries  de  Revenir  aussitot  quil  luy  plaira,  et  y  Rester 
paisible  :  il  est  done  en  Joint  et  ordonne  atoutes  personnes  quelconques  de  ne 
point  Injuner,  ou  Reprocher  La  Moindre  Chose,  au  Susd1  Sr  Alexis  Cuilleries 
au  sujet  de  la  fause  et  Malicieuze  accusation  intente  Contre  Luy  tous 
Ceux  qui  Contreviendront  a  lordre  Cy  dessus  en  Repondront  a  leur 
Risque  et  peril. 

Donne  au  Detroit  le  4,  Juin  1769 

Pour  Copie.  Sign'e  Geo:  Turnbull." 


Chap.  VII.]  MAJOR  CAMPBELL  VISITS   PONTIAC. 


127 


tastic  and  foppish  person,  whom  the  chief  used  as 
a  tool.1  The  tradition,  it  appears,  did  him  injustice. 
The  settlers  were  generally  on  good  terms  with  the 
chiefs,  and  in  some  instances  they  were  no  doubt 
unjustly  suspected  of  plotting  with  Pontiac.  Glad- 
win reported  that  several,  whose  characters  always 
stood  well  in  Detroit,  were  at  the  bottom  of  the 
plot,  and  guilty  of  the  worst  treachery ;  and  Sir 
William  Johnson,  and  Lord  Shelburne,  more  than 
once  repeated  the  charge,2  and  some  were  very  earn- 
est for  their  punishment.  Our  own  writers,  best 
informed,  have  not  been  satisfied  of  their  miscon- 
duct. And  until  the  final  cession  of  the  country 
in  1763,  it  is  difficult  to  see  any  reason  why  they 
should  have  been  active  for  the  English. 

At  first  Gladwin  did  not  believe  the  outbreak 
was  very  serious  ;  and  even  after  the  Indians  had 
attacked  the  fort,  and  been  driven  off  with  con- 
siderable loss,  he  attempted  to  negotiate.  Messrs. 
Chapoton  and  Godfroy  were  sent  with  an  inter- 
preter, La  Butte,  to  parley  with  Pontiac.  He  com- 
pletely deceived  them  into  supposing  he  was  dis- 
posed to  treat ;  and  desired  that  Major  Campbell, 
who  was  Gladwin's  predecessor,  and  esteemed  by 
French  and  Indians  for  his  probity  and  fairness, 
should  come  to  his  camp.  This  officer,  against 
Gladwin's  misgivings,3  desired  to  go,  and  was   ac- 

»  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  p.  224.  2  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  600,  687. 

3  Gladwin's  conduct  in  permitting  their  departure  was  approved,  as  ne- 
cessary to  enable  him  to  get  provisions  for  the  fort — as  he  gained  this  advan- 
tage by  temporising — 7  N.  V.  Doc,  617. 


128 


McDOUGALL  ESCAPES.    CAMPBELL  KILLED.      [Chap.  VII. 


companied  by  Lieutenant  George  McDougall,  of  his 
regiment.  They  went  up  to  Pontiac's  camp,  at 
Bloody  Run,  where  an  angry  mob  set  upon  them, 
and  if  the  chief  had  not  interfered  they  would  have 
been  killed.  He  retained  them  as  prisoners,  and, 
instead  of  negotiating,  immediately  made  prepara- 
tions to  cut  off  any  reinforcements  which  might 
come  from  below.  He  took  Major  Campbell  with 
the  canoes  down  the  river.  They  intercepted  the 
despatch  schooner  at  the  entrance  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  in  making  their  attack  on  it  placed  the  officer 
in  the  bow  of  a  canoe  as  a  screen  between  them 
and  the  vessel,  to  prevent  her  firing  on  them. 
The  veteran  called  to  the  crew  to  do  their  duty 
without  regard  to  him  ;  but  a  fresh  wind  carried 
her  beyond  pursuit,  and  she  reached  Niagara 
River  in  safety.  Pontiac  desired  to  make  terms 
with  the  fort  by  using  him  as  a  hostage,  but 
without  effect.  After  the  original  treachery  was 
discovered,  McDougall,  with  a  trader  named  Van 
Eps,1  escaped.  His  older  companion  would  not 
attempt  it,  being  short-sighted,  and  fearing  to  im- 
pede his  comrade.  He  was  afterwards  murdered 
by  Wasson,  a  chief  of  the  Chippewas.  Pontiac  was 
not  a  party  to  this  crime,  and  regretted  it. 

The  first  force  sent  to  aid  the  beleaguered 
town,  under    Lieutenant    Cuyler,    was    intercepted 

i  7  N.  Y.  Doc  ,  533.  McDougall  remained  in  Detroit.  His  two  sons, 
Colonel  George  McDougall  and  Colonel  John  R  McDougall  were  promin- 
ent citizens  forty  years  ago. '  The  latter  was  grandfather  of  Mr.  Alexander 
M.  Campau  of  Detroit.  He  owned  the  farm  west  of  Meloches,  near  Bloody 
Run. 


Chap.  VII. J  MASSACRE  OF  BLOODY  RUN.  129 

at  Pointe  Pelee,  and  turned  back.1  In  July,  Cap- 
tain Dalzell,  an  aid  of  Sir  Jeffery  Amherst,  arrived 
with  supplies,  and  with  280  men,  including,  in 
addition  to  detachments  from  the  55th  and  80th 
regiments,  twenty  rangers,  all  under  the  command 
of  Major  Robert  Rogers.  A  heavy  fog  favored 
their  landing.  Dalzell  on  his  arrival  foolishly  in- 
sisted on  making  a  night  march,  and  attacking 
the  Indians  in  their  camp.  The  secret  leaked  out, 
and  Pontiac  was  advised  of  the  plan.  At  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  July  31,  1763,  250  men 
marched  out  of  the  fort  and  up  the  River  Road, 
protected  in  part  on  the  river  by  two  large  boats 
with  swivels.  Two  miles  above  the  fort  the  road 
crossed  a  bridge  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream  then 
known  as  Parent's  Creek,  but  since  as  Bloody 
Run.  The  banks  formed  a  ravine,  through  which 
the  stream  ran  rapidly  until  it  neared  the  Detroit 
River,  when  it  spread  out  into  a  little  mere,  or 
marsh-bordered  pond,  narrowing  at  the  bridge  to 
about  twenty  feet,  and  being  there  quite  deep. 
As  soon  as  the  troops  reached  the  bridge  they  were 
assailed  by  a  murderous  fire,  and  the  ravine  became 
a  scene  of  carnage.  The  darkness  bewildered 
them,  and  they  were  compelled  to  retreat,  fighting 
against  ambuscades  all  the  way,  until  they  reached 
the.  fort  again  at  eight  o'clock,  after  six  hours  of 
marching  and  fighting  in  that  short  road.     Dalzell2 

1  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  526. 

2  This  officer's  name  is  written  Dalyell  in  many  documents,  and  Dr. 
O'Callaghan  takes  Parkman  to  task  for  writing  it  Dalzell.    The  latter  form  is 


130  SIEGE   RAISED.  [Chap.  VII. 

was  killed  while  gallantly  striving  to  save  a  wounded 
sergeant. 

The  battle  of  Bloody  Run,  though  fought  by  a 
small  force,  was  important  in  its  results,  and  was 
a  remarkable  instance  of  a  continuous  hand  to  hand 
fight  with  Indians.  The  scene  has  now  entirely 
changed.  The  stream  has  disappeared,  and  no 
relic  is  left  but  a  huge  tree  riddled  with  bullets, 
which  has  not  yet  been  sacrificed  to  city  improve- 
ments. 

The  siege  went  on  with  various  noteworthy 
episodes,  which  have  been  described  by  able 
writers,  and  which  are  too  long  in  recital  for  this 
sketch.  In  October,  the  besiegers  began  to  dis- 
appear ;x  and  Pontiac  retired  to  the  Maumee  coun- 
try, when  he  found  the  final  treaty  of  peace  was 
signed  between  France  and  England,  and  that  no 
help  could  henceforth  come  from  the  French  in 
Canada.  But  he  still  cherished  some  plans  of 
mischief.  The  next  year  [1764]  Bradstreet  came 
with  a  force  and  relieved  the  worn-out  garrison. 
He  held  a  council  with  the  Wyandots  and  other 
tribes,  and  made  a  treaty,  in  which,  by  the  fraud 
or  incapacity  of  the  interpreters,  they  were  made 
to  acknowledge    an  abject  subjection  to  the  Eng- 

also  found,  and  is  the  original  family  name,  sometimes  also  called  Dalziel. 
In  the  days  of  the  covenanters,  one  of  their  most  savage  foes  was  General 
Dalziel  or  Dalzell,  a  veteran  who  vowed  never  to  shave  his  beard  after  the 
execution  of  Charles  I.,  and  who  was  as  merciless  as  Claverhouse.  Mrs. 
Grant,  of  Laggan,  who  knew  him,  calls  the  officer  who  was  killed  at  Detroit 
Dalziel,  and  says  he  was  related  to  the  Dalziels  of  Carnwath. — Memoir  of  an 
American  Lady,   Ch.  51. 

1  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  589,  et  seq. 


Chap    VII.]  WANT  OF   CIVIL  GOVERNMENT.  131 

lish,  which  they  never  dreamed  of.  Bradstreet 
was  a  very  unwise  and  arrogant  negotiator,  and 
his  conduct  was  not  regarded  with  approval.  Sir 
William  Johnson  censured  it  severely  in  his  Re- 
ports, as  calculated  to  offend  the  tribes.  By  this 
treaty  the  land  was  ceded  from  Detroit  to  Lake  St. 
Clair.1 

The  importance  of  Detroit  was  now  fully  recog- 
nized, and  it  was  made  the  central  point  for  all  the 
western  interests.  The  want  of  some  sort  of  gov- 
ernment was  felt,  and  representations  were  re- 
peatedly made  by  Johnson,  Bradstreet,  Croghan, 
Governor  Moore,  Colden,  and  all  interested  in 
American  affairs.  Dr.  Franklin  was  also  active  in 
England  in  laboring  with   the  Board  of  Trade  to 

i  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  649,  650.  674,  678.  No  one  can  calculate  how  much  of 
the  trouble  between  whites  and  Indians  has  come  from  the  ignorance  and  ras- 
cality of  interpreters.  If  there  is  no  one  that  can  detect  their  errors,  they 
can  and  will  make  up  such  stories  and  give  such  versions  as  they  choose, 
without  regard  to  accuracy,  and  represent  each  side  to  the  other  as  saying 
what  is  really  colored  or  made  up  by  the  person  whom  each  is  obliged  to  re- 
ly on.  The  French  missionaries  and  the  officers  long  in  the  country  were 
familiar  with  Indian  languages,  and  were  seldom  if  ever  imposed  on.  But  the 
sounds  of  the  Indian  languages  cannot  well  be  expressed  by  English  forms, 
and  the  English  negotiators,  and  most  of  the  Americans,  have  been  com- 
pelled to  trust  almost  implicitly  to  their  interpreters.  Some  of  these,  like 
Joncaire,  La  Butte,  Henry  Connor  and  Whitmore  Knaggs,  were  men  of  char- 
acter and  reliable.  But  many  have  been  dishonest  and  ignorant.  An  in- 
terpreter will  seldom  admit  that  he  does  not  comprehend  any  phrase  that  is 
used,  and  will  always  report  something  as  dictated  to  him,  whether  truly  or 
falsely.  These  men,  too,  are  very  apt  to  soften  down  or  leave  out  phrases 
and  charges  that  tare  offensive,  and  put  civil  speeches  in  their  place.  It  is 
evident  this  was  done  by  Bradstreet's  interpreter.  Sir  William  Johnson,  to 
illustrate  the  danger  of  relying  on  such  persons,  tells  an  anecdote  of  an  oc- 
currence in  his  presence  where  when  an  English  missionary  gave  out  as  his 
text  that  there  was  no  respect  of  persons  with  God,  the  interpreter  rendered 
it  that  God  did  not  care  for  the  Indians  ;  and  Sir  William  had  to  intervene 
and  translate  the  sermon  himself.     7  N.  Y.  Doc,  970. 


132  ROYAL   PROCLAMATION.  [Chap.  VII. 

establish  governments  there  and  elsewhere  in  the 
west,  but  without  success.1 

As  soon  as  the  Treaty  of  Paris  had  been  rati- 
fied, the  King  of  Great  Britain  issued  a  proclama- 
tion for  the  government  of  the  various  French 
possessions  acquired  by  it.  So  much  of  Canada 
as  constitutes  what  was  afterwards  known  as  Lewer 
Canada,  he  established  as  the  Government  of 
Quebec,  to  be  governed  in  the  first  instance  by  a 
governor  and  council,  who  were  to  establish  courts 
and  tribunals  to  decide  all  cases  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble according  to  the  laws  of  England,  with  an  ap- 
peal in  civil  causes  to  the  Privy  Council.  When 
circumstances  should  permit,  an  assembly  was  to 
be  called.  Lord  Mansfield  was  very  indignant  at 
this  action,  as  revolutionizing  the  whole  laws  of  the 
Province,2  and  introducing  a  system  unknown  to  the 
people.  Afterwards,  in  Campbell  v.  Hall,  (Cowper, 
204,)  after  four  successive  arguments,  he  decided 
that,  although  the  old  civil  and  criminal  laws  remain 
until  changed,  yet  the  King,  until  Parliament  should 
intervene,  had  absolute  legislative  authority  over 
conquered  countries ;  but  that  by  this  proclamation 
the  sovereign  had  exhausted  his  powers,  and  could 
not  legislate  further.  This  last  proposition  is  doubt- 
ful law,  but  it  was  followed  immediately  by  the  pass- 
ing by  Parliament,  (whose  power  was  beyond 
cavil)   of  the  Quebec  Act,  to  be  noticed  hereafter. 

The  country  west  of  Lower  Canada,  not  ceded 
by    the    Indians,  was   by  this    proclamation    to    be 

1  See  N.  Y.  Docs.,  and  Mills'  Report,  passim.  2  Mills,  p.  190. 


Chap    VII.]  MILITARY    RULE. 


133 


left  unmolested  for  their  hunting  grounds,  and  no 
purchases  were  to  be  made  from  them  except  by 
public  treaty  for  the  Crown.  Trade  was  to  be 
open  and  free  to  all  who  desired  licenses,  under 
such  regulations  as  might  be  established. 

Provision  was  made  for  arresting  and  returning 
all  fugitives  from  justice  to  the  colonies  whence 
they  fled.  There  was  to  be  no  law  or  govern- 
ment west  of  Quebec,  except  under  military  con- 
trol. 

As  several  cases  had  been  decided  in  the 
English  courts  against  even  governors  of  colonies, 
who  had  overstepped  the  laws  to  the  prejudice  of 
citizens,  the  officers  sent  to  Detroit  before  the 
Quebec  Act  had  a  wholesome  fear  of  prosecution, 
and  were  generally  very  careful  to  keep  within  safe 
bounds.  The  case  of  Governor  Eyre,  (L.  R.  6  Q. 
B.  i.  Phillips  v.  Eyre,)  who  was  sued  for  his  course 
in  the  Jamaica  troubles  of  1865,  and  exonerated  by 
a  statute  of  indemnity,  is  the  most  recent  attempt  to 
enforce  such  liabilities. 

It  is  not  generally  understood  by  our  people 
that,  after  the  war  with  Mexico,  the  Territory  of 
New  Mexico  remained  under  military  government 
until  the  territorial  government  was  established 
by  the  Compromise  Acts  of  1850;  and  that  it  had 
a  whole  system  of  revised  statutes,  known  as  the 
"  Kearney  Code"  which  were  passed  by  no  legis- 
lature, and  obtained  their  only  sanction  from  the 
general  commanding  that  country.  The  British 
Parliament,  at    the    time    of   the    Treaty  of   Paris, 


134  MILITARY   RULE.  [Chap    VII. 

was  not  much  disposed  to  spend  time  in  fostering 
colonial  interests,  and  royal  colonies  had  not  then 
been  more  misgoverned  than  others.  The  Ameri- 
can Congress,  after  the  treaty  with  Mexico,  could 
not  agree  upon  the  territorial  schemes  before  it. 
As  some  government  was  needed,  the  military 
rule,  for  the  time  being,  was  unavoidable,  and 
General  Kearney  adopted  a  system  which  was  in 
effect  civil.  But  Detroit,  before  1775,  was  not 
governed  by  any  system  whatever,  and  the  com- 
manding general  and  his  subordinates  could  do 
as  they  chose.  Their  course  was  generally  mod- 
erate and  reasonable ;  and  although  the  inhabit- 
ants grumbled  at  the  burdens  laid  upon  them  to 
keep  up  the  fortifications,  there  were  no  extor- 
tions or  peculations  for  private  or  doubtful  pur- 
poses, as  there  were  in  many  posts  under  the 
French  control.  Most  of  the  British  commanders 
were  honest  and  reputable  men,  and  obtained 
respect  and  good  will  from  the  people  in  their 
charge. 

Bradstreet,  with  whatever  deficiencies  he  may 
be  charged,  had  sense  enough  to  discover  that 
Detroit  was  a  point  of  much  political  as  well  as 
military  importance,  and  needed  some  civil  gov- 
ernment. His  desire  was  that  English  settlers 
might  be  encouraged  to  come  in,  and  that,  whether 
held  under  civil  or  military  control,  there  should 
be  courts  of  justice  established.1 

1  He  wrote  as  follows  :  "  All  posts  upon  the  banks  of  the  lakes,  from 
Niagara  upwards,  to  be  under  the  control  of  the  officer  commanding  at  De- 


Chap.  VII.]  OPPOSITION  TO  SETTLEMENT.  13f> 

But  the  idea,  made  prominent,  that  these  were 
important  for  the  advantage  and  protection  of  In- 
dian dealings,  and  that  Indians  would  resort  to 
them,  was  not  very  practicable.1  Their  necessity 
for  the  whites  was  more  apparent.  The  importance 
of  introducing  more  settlers  was  continually  urged 
by  the  well-wishers  of  the  Province.  But  the 
trade  interests  of  Great  Britain  were  as  much  op- 
posed to  encouraging  American  settlements  as 
any  of  the  French  intriguers  had  been,  and  the 
future  was  not  very  promising.2 

The  distant  officials  were  very  vindictive  against 
the  French  settlers,  and  if  their  sentiments  had  pre- 
vailed there  would  have  been  trouble  at  Detroit.3 
But  the  gentlemen  who  were  on  the  spot  had 
more  wisdom  than  to  create  disgust  among  the 
people  with  whom  they  were  placed  in  intimate 
and  friendly  relations,  and  who,  when  they  found 
their  allegiance  irrevocably  transferred,  demeaned 
themselves  quietly  and  amicably.     Care  was  taken, 

troit ;  and  should  Government  judge  it  improper  to  establish  a  civil  govern- 
ment there,  and  not  encourage  the  colony,  still  some  court  of  justice  is  neces- 
sary, to  the  end  offenders,  inhabitants,  Indians,  Indian  traders  and  others, 
might  be  brought  to  justice,  and  punished  by  a  law  that  might  prevent  liti- 
gious suits,  and  satisfy  the  savages  that  the  strictest  justice  is  done  them. — 
7  N.  Y.  Doc,  691. 

1  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  641,  663,  668,  691. 

2  "The  colony  of  Detroit  grows  fast,  and  the  inhabitants  have  great  influ- 
ence over  the  savages  ;  the  removing  them  would  occasion  a  general  war 
with  the  Indians,  and  to  leave  them  as  they  now  are  will  take  a  great  length 
of  time  before  they  becpme  proper  English  subjects."  This  hint  is  followed 
by  urging  the  introduction  of  British  colonists — 7  N.  Y.  Doc,  693. 

3  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  579. 


136  SCOTTISH  OFFICERS  AttD  MERCHANTS.         [Chap.  VII. 

however,  to  appoint  British  agents  in  lieu  of  French, 
over  Indian  affairs,  and  in  the  trade  matters. 
Lieutenant  John  Hay,  (afterwards  Colonel  and 
Lieutenant  Governor,)  was  one  of  the  first  ap- 
pointed ;  and  when  Pontiac  afterwards  came  in 
and  treated  with  the  British,  he  specially  requested 
that  Hay  and  Crawford  should  be  retained  in  the 
agency. 

The  Scottish  officers  and  merchants  became 
favorites  with  the  Indians,  for  reasons  similar  to 
those  which  attached  the  tribes  to  the  French. 
Many  gentlemen  of  good  family,  but  narrow 
means,  came  to  America  from  the  highlands  and 
west  of  Scotland,  where  the  old  feudal  relations 
had  produced  a  habit  of  courtesy  and  kindness  to 
inferiors,  and  a  disregard  of  any  claims  of  wealth 
alone  to  superior  social  consideration.  These 
persons,  although  sometimes  high-tempered  and 
punctilious,  were  much  more  careful  to  avoid 
giving  offence  to  the  Indians  than  some  of  their 
English  associates  were.  The  subsequent  history 
of  the  country  shows  them  to  have  had  more 
intimate  relations  with  the  French  also.  And  when 
the  Americans  succeeded  to  the  possession  of  this 
region,  the  Scottish  merchants  far  outnumbered 
all  the  rest,  and  there  were  found  among  them 
representatives,  and  subsequent  inheritors,  of  the 
best  houses  in   Scotland.1 


1  Angus  Mackintosh,  of  Detroit,  inherited  the  estates  which  belonged 
to  the  old  earldom  of  Moy,  the  earldom  itself  having  been  forfeited  in  the 
rebellion  against  the  House  of  Hanover.  Being  entailed  upon  heirs  male 
general,  and  the  direct   line   failing,  it   was  found    that  Angus  Mackintosh 


Chap.  VII.]  COURTS  OF  INQUIRY.  137 

Bradstreet,  while  at  Detroit,  made  military 
appointments  in  the  militia,  and  held  courts  for 
the  trial  of  persons  who  had  favored  Pontiac  and 
adhered  to  him  during  the  war.  There  were 
probably  no  capital  sentences,  but  such  as  were 
convicted  were  banished.  This  was  perhaps  the 
time  when  Cuillerier  was  condemned. 

The  courts,  so  far  as  we  find  any  trace 
of  their  proceedings,  were  called  courts  of  inquiry, 
and  there  is  some  reason  for  supposing  they 
were  made  up  in  occasional  instances,  if  not  gen- 
erally, of  a  jury,  instead  of  being  confined  to 
military  officers.  There  are  some  references 
which  indicate  the  use  of  a  mixed  jury  of  French 
and  English,  after  the  fashion  of  the  jury  de 
me  dictate  linguae,  formerly  used  for  controversies 
with  aliens.  Sir  William  Johnson  refers  to  the 
conviction  of  a  trader  by  court  of  inquiry,  for 
using  false  weights,  and  it  appears  that  he  set 
the  Commander  at  defiance,  and  threatened  him 
with  legal  prosecution.1  It  was  such  occurrences, 
and  the  uncertainty  how  far  an  officer  could 
safely  go  in  punishing  civil  offenders,  which  led 
to  strong  appeals  from  Johnson,  and  Governor 
Moore,  for  some  tribunals  for  dealing  with  crim- 
inals in  the  country  outside  of  the  Quebec  Gov- 
ernment. The  eastern  colonies,  acting  on  the 
principles    of  the    common    law,    could    punish    no 

and  Sir  James  Mackintosh  were  the  two  nearest  of  kin,  the  former  being 
one  degree  nearer  than  the  latter.  A  claimant  was  also  found  for  the 
estates  of  Annandale,  but  unsuccessfully. 

i  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  895. 


138  SETTLEMENTS   HINDERED.  [Chap.  VI  I. 

offenders  outside  of  their  own  borders,  and  mili- 
tary law  was  very  distasteful  to  English  courts 
and  people.1  There  was  much  lawlessness  among 
the  roving  adventurers  outside  of  the  posts,2  and 
especially  about  Mackinaw,  which  was  for  some 
time  after  the  massacre  left  without  commander 
or  garrison.  It  was  not  restored  till  1764  or  1765. 
The  Lords  of  Trade  opposed  any  extension 
of  settlements,  on  the  notion  that  the  settlers 
would  become  manufacturers,  and  the  English 
tradesmen  would  lose  their  market.  The  public 
men  who  favored  settlements,  instead  of  exposing 
the  folly  of  using  colonists  as  inferiors  and  con- 
tributors of  all  their  energies  to  serve  the  greedy 
demands  of  home-abiding  Englishmen,  met  the 
arrogant  claims  by  urging  that  new  settlers  would 
enlarge  instead  of  narrowing  the  market,  and 
could  not  furnish  their  own  domestic  articles. 
The  spirit  that  drove  America  into  revolution  was 
manifest  in  the  whole  correspondence  of  the  govern- 
ment agents.  Unfortunately  there  was  an  interest 
in  this  country  opposed  to  civilization.  The  fur 
trade  was  still  a  power,  and  anything  which  drove 
out  the  wild  beasts  and  opened  the  land  to  cul- 
ture was  in  the  way  of  this  powerful  ministry  of 
barbarism.  The  early  associated  fur  traders  were 
the  worst  enemies  to  improvement  which  this 
region  ever  encountered;  and  in  the  sequel  they 
very  nearly  succeeded  in  changing  our  political 
destiny.       But    the    natural    disposition    of   British 

1  7  Nr.  Y.  Doc,  877,  895.  2  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  871-2. 


Chap.  VII.]  LANDS  SOUGHT  FOR.  139 

and  Americans  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  new 
countries  was  not  to  be  repressed.  Although  not 
numerous,  settlers  came  in  by  degrees  as  soon 
as  the  end  of  hostilities  made  it  safe ;  and  in 
1767,  and  probably  sooner,  there  were  found  in 
Detroit  persons  of  British  birth  and  descent 
whose  families  and  descendants  are  well  known 
there.  From  the  beginning,  of  the  occupation  the 
Commandants  were  beset  with  applications  for 
lands,  and  they  were  compelled  to  give  per- 
mission to  occupy,  although  they  could  do  no 
more.  It  had  been  customary  for  the  French 
Commandants,  with  or  without  the  ratification  of 
the  Governor  or  commanding  general,  to  dispose 
of  lots  of  land  within  the  fort  and  adjacent 
domain,  although  Mr.  Navarre,  in  1767,  stated 
that  the  power  did  not  exist  in  the  domain.1 
But  grants  of  land  for  farming  purposes  were 
within  the  control  of  the  authorities  at  Quebec, 
and  the  action  of  the  Commandant  at  Detroit 
was  nugatory  unless  confirmed.  The  Indian  title 
had  not  been  given  up,  except  east  of  the  fort 
to  Lake  St.  Clair,  and  a  trifling  distance  west. 
The  Royal  Proclamation  distinctly  forbade  private 
Indian  purchases. 

In  1765,  when  Colonel  John  Campbell  was  in 
command,  George  Croghan  held  a  council  at 
Detroit,  where  eighteen  Indian  tribes  were  repre- 
sented, and  was  more  fortunate  than  Bradstreet 
in    getting    their     confidence.     Croghan     was     the 

1  1  St.  Papers. 


140 


INDIAN  CONCESSIONS.  [Chap.  VII. 


ablest  British  agent  that  ever  dealt  with  the 
Indians  in  the  Northwest.  On  this  occasion  he 
persuaded  Pontiac  to  enter  into  friendly  relations 
with  the  British,  and  the  grant  to  Dr.  Anthon 
previously  mentioned,  made  at  this  council,  was 
probably  the  first  Indian  grant  made  in  this  region 
to  any  one.1  It  was  not  good  within  the  letter 
of  the  King's  proclamation,  but  such  grants  made 
in  treaties  have  generally  been  respected,  and 
while  this  was  by  separate ,  deed,  it  was  very 
likely  one  of  the  means  whereby  the  chief  was 
conciliated.  The  suggestions  he  made  to  appoint 
as  agents  persons  in  whom  he  had  confidence, 
were  deemed  worthy  of  consideration  by  Sir 
William  Johnson,  and  it  would  have  been  a  very 
cheap  privilege  to  allow  him  to  give  away  his 
own  /lands  to  a  British  officer  and  surgeon,  who 
had  earned  his  gratitude.  There  were,  however, 
many  dealings  with  the  Indians  for  private  grants, 
which  were  connived  at  or  openly  favored  by  later 
Commandants,  without  any  color  of  right. 

It  appears  incidentally  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Detroit  had  been  regularly  taxed  to  keep  up  the 
fortifications.  In  1765,  when  Colonel  Campbell 
was  expecting  to  leave,  a  remonstrance  was  sent 
to  him  against  these  taxes  as  oppressive.  The 
burden,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a 
new  one.  Not  long  after,  a  subscription  was 
made  by  the    traders    and    others,  to  put  the    fort 

i  At  the  same  time,  or  within  a  few  days,  Pontiac  made  several 
other  grants  in  the  same  vicinity,  all  four  arpents  by  eighty. 


Chap.  VII.]  EARLIEST  JUDICIAL  COMMISSION.  141 

and  stockade  in  complete  order.  In  1766,  a 
receipt  is  found  for  three  pounds  York  currency, 
on  a  farm  outside  the  fort,  levied  by  Colonel 
Campbell  for  lodging  troops.1 

In  1765,  Philip  Le  Grand  appears  to  have  been 
acting  as  justice  of  the  peace,  and  notary,  proba- 
bly appointed  by  Bradstreet.  He  seems  to  have 
held  the  office  for  several  years.  In  1776,  he 
acted  in  a  matter  where  Philip  Dejean  was  inter- 
ested. He  could  not  have  done  much  except 
when  the  latter  could  not  act,  and  there  are 
some  indications  that  Dejean  was  expected  by 
General  Gage  to  practically  supersede  Le  Grand. 
The  common  law  powers  of  a  justice  did  not 
extend  to  the  trial  of  causes,  but  only  to  the 
examination  and  committal  of  offenders. 

In  1767,  we  find  the  first  steps  taken  to  pro- 
vide for  the  administration  of  justice.  On  the 
24th  day  of  April,  1767,  Captain  George  Turnbull, 
of  the  60th  or  Royal  American  Regiment,  Com- 
mandant of  Detroit  and  its  Dependencies,  issued 
a  commission  to  Philip  Dejean,  merchant  in 
Detroit,  of  a  somewhat  peculiar  and  comprehen- 
sive character,  which  ran  as  follows : 

"I  do  hereby  nominate  and  appoint  you  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  to  Inquire  into  all  complaints 
that  shall  come  before  you,  for  which  purpose 
you  are  hereby  authorised  to  examine  by  oath 
such  Evidences  as  shall  be  necessary  that  the 
Truth  of  the  matter    may  be    better  known;     Pro- 

1  Wayne  Records. 


142  SECOND  JUDICIAL  COMMISSION.  [Chap.  VII. 

vided  always  that  you  give  no  Judgement  or  final 
award  but  at  their  joint  Request,  and  which  by 
bond  they  bind  themselves  to  abide  by,  but 
settle  the  Determination  of  the  matter  by  Arbi- 
tration, which  they  are  likewise  to  give  their 
bond  to  abide  by,  one  or  two  persons  to  be 
chosen  by  each ;  and  if  they  cannot  agree  and 
have  named  Two  only  you  name  a  third,  and  if 
Four,  a  fifth,  and  their  Determination  or  award 
to  be  approved  by  me  before  put  in  Execution. 
I  further  authorise  and  Impower  you  to  act  as 
chief  and  sole  Notary  and  Tabellion,  by  drawing 
all  wills  Deeds  &c,  proper  for  that  Department, 
the  same  to  be  done  in  English  only,  and  I  also 
appoint  you  sole  Vendue  Master  for  such  sales 
as  may  happen  here,  in  the  usual  and  accustomed 
manner.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at 
Detroit  this  24th  day  of  April  1767."  (signed) 
Geo.    Turnbull. 

On  the  28th  day  of  July,  1767,  Robert  Bayard, 
major  commanding,  gave  him  a  further  commission, 
as  follows : 

"Whereas  it  has  been  represented  to  me  by 
the  Trading  People  and  others  reciding  at  Detroit 
that  some  Tempery  form  of  Justice  for  the  recovery 
of  Debts  &ca,  was  become  absolutely  necessary, 
and  having  taken  this  matter  into  consideration, 
and  finding  the  utility  of  such  an  Establishment, 
I  have  accordingly  granted  them  a  Tempery  Court 
of  Justice  to  be  held  twice  in  every  month  at 
Detroit,   to  Decide    all    actions    of    Debts,    Bonds, 


Chap.  VII.]  JUDGE   DEJEAN   INVESTIGATED.  143 

Bills,'  Contracts  and  Trespasses,  above  the  sum 
of  Five  Pounds1  New  York  Currency,  and 
confiding  in  Philip  Dejean  for  his  uprightness 
and  Integrity,  I  do  hereby  nominate  and  appoint 
him  the  second  Judge  of  the  said  Court  of  Justice 
at  Detroit.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at 
Detroit,  the  28th  day  of  July  1767.  "(Signed) 
"Rob*  Bayard,  Major  Commz  at  Detroit.  To  Philip 
Dejean  Esq"" 

The  first  judge  was  doubtless  the  Commandant, 
who  always  retained  control  of  affairs. 

Major  Bayard  at  the  same  time  established  a 
fee-bill,  approved  by  a  committee  of  citizens.  Mr. 
Dejean,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  further,  was  a 
merchant  who  had  been  unfortunate  in  his  busi- 
ness. Within  the  next  year  he  seems  to  have 
given  occasion  for  complaints — apparently  for 
extortion.  But  for  some  reasons  not  apparent — 
(although  from  his  after  life  it  may  be  assumed 
it  was  a  peculiar  influence  at  head-quarters)  no 
one  dared  to  come  out  openly  and  oppose  him. 
On  the  28th  of  May,  1763,  at  Dejean's  request, 
Captain  Turnbull  called  a  court  of  inquiry,  "in 
consequence  of  complaints  made  against  him," 
who  reported  that  they,  u  having  Duely  heard  and 
carefully  examined  into  the  Grievances  set  forth 
by  the  said  Philip  Dejean  Esqre'  are  of  opinion 
First,  That  the  Fees  established  by  the  Committee 
appointed  by  Major  Robert  Bayard  on  the  estab- 
lishment of  the    Court    of  Justice    at    Detroit   are 

1  Twelve  dollars  and  a  half. 


144 


DEJEAN  APPROVED.  [Chap.  VII. 


just  and  reasonable  and  ought  not  to  be  less. 
Secondly,  That  evry  Prisoner  confin'd  in  the 
Guard  House,  whether  for  Debt  or  Misdemeanor, 
shall  on  his  being  sett  at  Liberty,  pay  One  Dol- 
lar, and  evry  Batteau  or  Canoe  arriveing  here 
loaded  with  Merchandize  belonging  to  any  Person 
or  Persons  not  possessing  in  Property  any  Lot 
or  Building  within  this  Fort,  shall  pay  Two 
Dollars,  and  the  monies  ariseing  from  thence  to 
be  aply'd  as  in  the  time  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  keep  in  Good  and  sufficient  Repairs  the 
Fortifications  around  the  Town,  as  will  more 
fully  appear  in  our  former  Petition  to  Captn  Turn- 
bull  for  that  Purpose.  Thirdly,  No  Person 
having  appear'd  before  us  to  make  any  Com- 
plaints against  said  Philip  Dejean  with  respect  to 
his  publick  office,  we  are  of  opinion  that  they 
were  ill-founded  and  without  cause."  This  is 
signed  by  James  Sterling,  Colin  Andrews,  T. 
Williams,  Willm  Edgar,  John  Robison,  Eustache 
Gamelin,  P.  St.  Cosme,  J.  Cabacier,  Cicote,  T. 
M oiler e,    A.  Bar  the. 

It  would  seem  that  some  movement  was  on 
foot  to  remove  Dejean,  as  on  the  26th  of  May 
a  very  brief  certificate,  whereby  the  signers  "do 
vote  for  and  unanimously  approve  of  Philip 
Dejean  to  be  Judge  and  Justice  of  the  District 
of  Detroit  and  its  Dependencies "  was  signed 
by  thirty-three  persons,  of  whom  five  were 
French,  and  the  rest  English,  Scotch  and  Dutch. 
On  the   13th  of  June,    1768,   a  petition  in    French 


Chap.  VII.]  MISCONDUCT  OF   ROGERS.  145 

was  drawn  up  addressed  to  General  Gage,  and 
signed  by  twenty-five  signers,  to  the  same  effect, 
the  principal  reason  given  being  that  Dejean 
"understands  both  English  and  French,  and  is' 
therefore  much  better  able  to  decide  the  difficul- 
ties which  may  arise  between  the  ancient  and 
new  subjects  of  His  Britannic  Majesty."  General 
Gage  did  not  disturb  the  appointment.1 

About  this  time  a  court  of  inquiry  was  held 
to  pass  upon  Bellestre's  title  to  several  lots  in 
Detroit,  and  he  appeared  before  them  and  estab- 
lished his  claims.2 

Meanwhile  Mackinaw  had  been  re-established. 
In  1766  complaints  were  made  that  affairs  were 
not  going  on  properly  there.  The  next  year 
evidence  was  obtained  that  Robert  Rogers,  who 
was  sent  there  in  1765,  was  intriguing  by  lavish 
presents  and  otherwise  to  get  influence  with  the 
Indians,  for  the  ultimate  purpose,  as  was  then 
supposed,  of  getting  a  separate  colony  or  other 
establishment  for  his  own  emolument.  He  ob- 
tained the  means  by  drawing  large  drafts  which 
were  not  honored,  and  became  involved  very 
heavily,  and  completely  demoralized  the  savages. 
He  was  afterwards  charged  with  having  meditated 
surrendering  Mackinaw  to  the  French  or  Spani- 
ards, and  was  taken  down  to  Montreal  under 
arrest,  and  as  some  say  in  irons,  and  tried  by 
court  martial.    ,  He  could  not  have  been  convicted 

«  Wayne  Records,  A  ,  35.  2  id.,  B.,  128. 

10 


146  SUBSEQUENT   CAREER   OF   ROGERS.  [Chap.  VII. 

of  treason,  for  he  was  soon  afterwards  at  large, 
and  went  to  Algiers  and  entered  the  service  of 
the  Dey. 

The  narrative  of  his  doings  at  Mackinaw,  as 
given  by  the  depositions  which  led  to  his  arrest, 
shows  that  he  must  have  had  some  designs 
inconsistent  with  honesty  as  well  as  loyalty,  but 
it  is  difficult  to  say  just  what  they  were.  A  letter 
was  intercepted  from  Colonel  Hopkins,  (who 
appears  to  have  been  well  acquainted  in  Detroit, 
but  through  some  discontent  or  other  cause  to 
have  entered  the  Frengh  service,)  urging  Rogers, 
in  a  vague  way,  to  gain  over  the  Indians,  and 
offering  to  use  influence,  if  he  should  desire  it,  to 
get  him  employment  from  France.  But  the 
writer  was  evidently  desirous  of  having  the 
American  colonies  independent,  and  urges  Rogers 
to  strive  for  that  ultimate  end.1  The  letter  is 
one  of  the  earliest  writings  looking  towards 
American  independence.  Rogers  was  unquestion- 
ably a  dishonest  and  selfish  adventurer,  who  was 
inordinately  ambitious  and  unscrupulous,  and  his 
course  gave  much  uneasiness  to  the  British 
authorities.  It  is  not  likely  he  determined  his 
course  by  any  standard  but  his  own  profit  or 
advancement.  When  the  Revolution  opened  he 
played  a  double  part,  professing  patriotism ;  but 
as  the  Americans  had  no  faith  in  him  he  joined 
the    British    and    obtained    a   colonel's  commission, 

i  7  N.  Y.  Doc,  988,  993.     8  N.  Y.  Doc.  36 


Chap.  VTI.J  MINES  ON   LAKE  SUPERIOR.  147 

but  never  distinguished    himself,    and    passed    into 
utter  obscurity.1 

The  British  Ministry,  in  March,  1768,  wrote 
very  strongly  to  Sir  William  Johnson  in  regard 
to  both  Rogers  and  Chabert  de  Joncaire,  as  dan- 
gerous and  treacherous  men,  whose  conduct 
revealed  the  necessity  of  "  the  utmost  circumspec- 
tion and  attention  of  His  Majesty's  servants  in 
America,  as  in  the  present  state  of  some  men's 
dispositions  in  that  country,  when  one  corres- 
pondence of  that  dangerous  tendency  is  discovered, 
there  is  reason  to  apprehend  there  may  be  more 
of  the  same  kind."2 

The  recent  cession  to  Spain  of  the  French 
possessions  on  the  Mississippi  very  naturally  sug- 
gested the  danger  of  dealings  by  the  discontented 
colonists  with  Spain.  The  idea  of  any  independ- 
ent resistance  was  not  at  that  time  familiar  in 
England. 

The  Lake  Superior  country  at  this  time 
assumed  a  temporary  importance.  Alexander 
Henry,  on  his  second  journey,  examined  the 
mineral  country,  which  had  been  known  long 
before  to  the  French,  though  not  worked.  In 
1768,     Hillsboro'     informed    Sir    William    Johnson 


1  He  raised  a  corps  of  American  Tories  called  the  Queen's  Rangers, 
and  after  he  went  to  England  (about  .1777)  he  was  succeeded  in  its  com- 
mand by  Simcoe,  who  was  afterwards  Governor  of  Upper  Canada,  rind 
bitterly  hostile  to  the.  United  States. — See  Cannijfs  Settlement  oj  Upper 
Canada,  p.  71. 

■  Hillsboro'  to  Sir  W.  Johnson,  8  N.  Y.    Doc,  36. 


14  8  MINING  ON   LAKE  SUPERIOR.  [Chai\  VII. 

that  an  application  had  been  made  for  a  grant 
of  all  the  lands  within  60  miles  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  desired  him  to  report  on  the  subject.1  His 
report  has  not,  it  is  believed,  been  published,  but 
Henry  seems  to  have  gone  on  his  second  expe- 
dition to  explore  for  copper,  and  was  probably  in 
the  scheme.  He  visited  the  east  shore  of  the 
lake,  and  examined  Michipicoten  and  Caribou 
Islands.  At  Point  Iroquois,  on  his  return,  his 
companion,  Mr.  Norburg,  of  the  60th  Regiment, 
found  a  semi-transparent  blueish  stone  of  eight 
pounds  weight,  which,  on  assay,  produced  sixty 
per  cent,  of  silver.  It  was  deposited  in  the 
British  Museum.  A  mining  company,  consisting 
of  several  noblemen  and  other  prominent  men, 
including  Sir  William  Johnson  and  Alexander 
Henry,  opened  a  mine  on  the  Ontonagon  River, 
and  did  some  work ;  but  the  inconvenience  of 
access  and  other  difficulties  led  to  its  abandon- 
ment. The  great  copper  boulder2  which  Henry 
had  visited  in  1 766,  and  from  which  he  had  cut 
with  an  axe  a  piece  weighing  100  pounds,  was 
the  attraction  which  led  to  the  enterprise.  It 
was  an  object  of  superstition  among  the  Indians, 
who  never  disturbed  articles  left  on  it. 

«  8  N.  Y.  Doc,  92. 

*  This  was  about  thirty  years  ago  taken  to  Washington  by  Julius 
Eldred,  of  Detroit,  and  it  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Government. 
Several  masses  much  larger  have  since  been  taken  from  the  mines,  but 
this  is  the  largest  mass  ever  found  as  a  boulder  at  a  distance  from  any 
mining  ground. 


Chap.  VII.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  SETTLEMENTS.  14  9 

As  no  such  grant  was  ever  set  up  afterwards, 
and  as  the  Indian  title  was  not  extinguished  till 
within  the  last  forty  years,  it  is  probable  nothing 
was  obtained  beyond  a  license.  The  ideas  of 
these  early  speculators  were  not  limited  by  mod- 
erate bounds.  The  first  attempt  to  get  access 
to  the  mines  in  our  day  was  in  1822,  when  a 
company  of  persons  in  New  Jersey  sought  to  get 
a  grant  of  40,000  acres  of  the  same  lands,  to  be 
selected  in  parcels  and  not  in  one  tract,  at  a 
rent  to  be  fixed  at  that  time.1  The  proposition 
was  not  accepted. 

The  Mackinaw  settlement  was  long  without 
any  great  importance.  The  post  had  become  less 
valuable  than  in  the  days  of  the  French.  At 
Detroit,  although  some  of  the  people  had  gone 
westward,  there  was  a  steady  but  slow  increase, 
and  the  inventories  of  estates  show  that  domestic 
animals  were  abundant.  By  confounding  the 
estimates  of  the  people  within  the  fort  with  those 
of  the  settlement,  some  confusion  and  apparent 
contradictions  have  arisen.  The  settlement,  as 
early  as  1774,  extended  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  .for  several  miles  above  and  a  few  miles 
below  the  fort.  Although  no  Indian  land  grants 
were  lawful,  yet  as  before  mentioned,  several  were 
connived  at.  The  Potawatamie  •  village  and 
cemetery,  then  below,  but  now  within  Detroit, 
were  conveyed  by  that  tribe  to  Robert  Navarre 
the    younger,    and    Isidore    Chene,    on    the    charge 

1  4  St.  Papers,  Pub.  Lands,  341. 


150 


AFFAIRS  AT  DETROIT.  [Chap.  VII. 


that  the  several  grantees  should  dwell  there  and 
care  for  the  dead.  The  Navarre  sale  was  approved 
by  Major  Bassett,  in  1772.  That  to  Chene  was 
sanctioned  by  Lieutenant  Governors  Hamilton  (in 
1776),  and  Sinclair  (in  1 781  .)1  In  1774,  Major  Bas- 
sett, on  the  complaint  of  the  inhabitants  that  their 
lands  were  encroached  upon,  appointed  James 
Sterling  to  survey  them,  and  directed  that  his  sur- 
veys should  be  conclusive.  The  people,  since  the 
Pontiac  war,  had  not  been  disturbed,  and  many  who 
had  before  lived  in  the  fort  were  now  dwelling  on 
their  estates. 

The  King's  Receiver  collected  the  same  dues 
which  had  before  accrued  to  the  French  Govern- 
ment for  annual  rents  and  fines  of  alienation. 
Captain  Turnbull  in  one  case  (and  very  likely  in 
others)  commuted  the  dues  of  a  farm  four  arpents 
wide  for  "six  slay  loads  of  wood,  Fi'ench  measure!' 
The  traineau,  drawn  by  one  pony,  usually  held 
about  one-third  of  a  cord,  so  that  this  made  about 
two  cords,  in  lieu  of  one  bushel  of  wheat,  and  four 
livres,  two  sols,  cash  or  peltries.2 

The  commission  de  grand  voyer  (road  commis- 
sioners) had  charge  of  roads  and  bridges,  and 
apportioned  the  taxes  for  their  support.  Where  a 
bridge  was  a  private  charge,  it  was  allowed  to  re- 
lieve the  owner  from  other  bridge  taxes  to  the 
amount  of  its  expenses.3 

In  spite  of  their  increasing  prosperity,  the  British 
refused    to    give     the     people     any     government. 

1  Wayne  Records,  A.,  256-7.  »  Id.,  116.  3  Id.,  158. 


Chap.  Vll.j  OPPOSITION   TO  COLONIES.  151 

Although  Johnson  and  Shelburne,  as  well  as  others, 
had  urged  it,  and  the  two  Franklins  were  unwearied 
in  their  efforts,  the  Board  of  Trade  settled  down 
upon  the  selfish  course  which  was  so  soon  to  arouse 
resistance  in  all  the  English-speaking  colonies. 
Their  whole  policy  was  "  to  prevent  manufactures."1 
This  they  thought  "  would  not  be  promoted  by  these 
new  colonies,  which  being  proposed  to  be  estab- 
lished, at  the  distance  of  above  fifteen  hundred  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  upon  places  which,  upon  the 
fullest  evidence,  are  found  to  be  utterly  inaccessible 
to  shipping,  will,  from  their  inability  to  find  returns 
wherewith  to  pay  for  the  manufactures  of  Great 
Britain,  be  probably  led  to  manufacture  for  them- 
selves." They  meet  the  argument  that  such  colon- 
ies will  raise  provisions,  in  this  way.  "The 
present  French  inhabitants  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  lakes,  will,  in  our  humble  opinion,  be  suffi- 
cient to  furnish  with  provisions  whatever  posts  may 
be  necessary  to  be  continued  there  ;  and  as  there 
are  also  French  inhabitants  settled  in  some  parts  of 
the  country,  lying  upon  the  Mississippi,  between  the 
Rivers  Illinois  and  the  Ohio,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  a 
sufficient  number  of  these  may  be  induced  to  fix 
their  abode,  where  the  same  convenience  and 
advantage  may  be  derived  from  them.  *  *  * 
The  settlements  already  existing,  as  above  described, 
which  being  formed  under  military  establishments, 
and  ever  subject  to  military  authority,  do  not,  in  our 
humble  opinion,  require  any  further  superintendence 

1  Mills,  30. 


152  QUEBEC  ACT. 


[Chap.  VII. 


than    that    of  the    military  officers    commanding   at 
these  posts."1 

The  necessity  of  conciliating  that  part  of  the 
Province  which  was  well  settled,  and  had  been 
before  under  laws  and  civil  institutions,  led  to  the 
enactment,  in  1774,  of  the  Quebec  Act,  whereby, 
ostensibly,  the  whole  country  was  to  be  assured 
these  privileges.  It  was  delusive  everywhere,  and 
the  Historian  Garneau  finds  a  lack  of  words  to 
express  his  indignation  at  the  course  pursued  under 
it.2  By  our  Declaration  of  Independence  it  was 
denounced  as  unfavorable  to  liberty.  If  the  Detroit 
colonists  heard  of  it,  it  was  but  as  a  distant  rumor 
of  something  which  did  not  affect  them.  No  news- 
papers then  circulated  in  the  Province,  and  the 
Michigan  colonists,  perhaps,  would  not  have  seen 
them  if  they  had  existed.  Nevertheless,  stirring 
times  were  approaching. 

1  Mills,  32.  2  Garneau,  passim. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

MICHIGAN    UNDER    BRITISH    LAW. 

In  1774,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  British 
Parliament,  commonly  called  the  Quebec  Act,  by 
which  the  entire  British  possessions  west  of  New 
York,  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  were  incorporated  into  the 
Province  of  Quebec,  and  made  subject  to  its 
government.  The  laws  of  Canada,  as  they  had 
been  in  force  before  the  Conquest,  were  nominally 
made  the  rule  of  decision  in  civil  matters,  and 
the  English  law  in  criminal  matters;  and  this  has 
been  quite  generally  supposed  to  be  the  scope 
and  chief  design  of  the  statute.  If  this  had  been 
so,  the  strong  condemnation  of  this  Act  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  would  have  been 
exaggerated.  It  is  there  described  as  an  act 
"  for  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws 
in  a  neighboring  province,  establishing  therein  an 
arbitrary  government,  and  enlarging  its  bounda- 
ries, so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and 
a  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same  absolute 
rule  into  these  colonies." 

Although  this  statute  was  smuggled  through 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  urged  in  the  Commons, 
as    an    act    of   justice    to    the    Canadians,    it   was 


154  QUEBEC   ACT.  fCrtAf.  VIII. 

contrived  and  really  intended  to  prevent  settle- 
ments in  the  colony,  and  discourage  Englishmen 
from  going  there,  by  depriving  them  of  the 
benefit  of  English  law,  both  civil  and  criminal. 
Hillsborough  and  Thurlovv  had  combined  to  resist 
all  new  settlements,  and  when  Franklin  had  at 
last  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  consent  of  the 
council  to  establish  a  colony  south  of  the  Ohio, 
Thurlow  contrived  to  prevent  the  sealing  of  the 
order.1  When  the  Quebec  Act  was  sent  down  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  the  course  of  the  Minis- 
try was  such  as  would  not  be  tolerated  in 
modern  times.  Burke,  Colonel  Barre,  Fox,  and 
many  other  distinguished  men,  opposed  it  bitterly. 
But,  before  discussing  its  provisions,  calls  were 
made  on  the  Government  for  information  and 
documents  in  the  public  offices,  and  for  the 
official  opinions  of  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown 
on  various  matters  laid  before  them.  This 
information  they  failed  to  get.  The  law  officers 
who  were  summoned  before  the  House  refused 
to  make  any  disclosures,  on  the  ground  that 
their  opinions  belonged  to  His  Majesty.  Dr. 
Marriott,  the  civilian,  not  only  refused  to  make 
disclosures  of  the  tenor  of  his  official  reports,  but 
treated  the  other  questions  put  to  him  in  a 
strain  of  impertinence  not  often  parallelled.  The 
opposition  succeeded  in  correcting  a  few  defects, 
and  in  procuring  for  the  inhabitants  a  right  to 
make  wills  according  to  either  English  or  French 
law.     But  beyond  this  they  had  no  success. 

*  5  Bancroft,  47. 


Chap.  VIII.]  QUEBEC  ACT.  155 

The  statute,  while  establishing  nominally  the 
Canadian  and  English  law,  as  furnishing  rules  of 
decision  in  civil  and  criminal  cases  respectively, 
made  no  attempt  to  determine  what  were  to  be 
deemed  the  old  laws  of  Canada,  although  there 
had  been  much  dispute  upon  that  subject.  Chief 
Justice  Hay,  of  Canada,  who  was  a  witness  before 
the  House,  admitted  he  knew  nothing  about  the 
French  law ;  and  when  an  objection  was  made 
to  the  act  that  it  put  all  the  existing  judges  out 
of  office,  it  was  answered  by  an  assurance  that 
they  would  be  continued.  The  whole  legislative 
power  was  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor, 
(and  in  his  absence  the  Lieutenant  Governor  or 
Commander-in-Chief)  and  a  council  of  not  less 
than  seventeen  nor  more  than  twenty-three,  all 
appointed  by  the  Crown,  whose  acts  might  be 
reviewed  by  the  King  in  council.  All  the  ordin- 
ances of  the  Province,  whether  under  French  or 
British  authority,  were  annulled.  No  provision 
was  made  for  a  future  assembly,  except  as  a 
possibility.  Ordinances .  of  the  new  legislative 
board  extending  imprisonment  beyond  three 
months  were  to  require  the  Royal  approval,  but 
there  was  no  limit  to  the  imposition  of  fines  or 
forfeitures.  No  provision  was  made  for  the 
regulation  of  courts,  which  were  left  entirely  at 
the  pleasure  of  the  King,  to  create  and  regulate 
as  he  chose.  An  attempt  to  introduce  a  right  to 
the  writ  of  Habeas  corpus  was  opposed  by  the 
Ministry,  and  defeated.       The   claim  that  a  repre- 


156  QUEBEC   ACT.  [Chap.  VIII. 

sentative  legislature  should  be  introduced,  was 
resisted  on  the  ground  that  there  were  less  than 
four  hundred  Englishmen  in  the  Province,  and 
that  although  the  French  population  had  become 
numerous,  the  idea  that  they  should  have  any 
such  civil  rights  was  preposterous.  They  were 
spoken  of  as  if  they  had  no  claim  to  be  regarded 
as  British  subjects,  but  only  as  a  conquered  peo- 
ple holding  all  their  privileges  by  favor.  When 
Lord  Mansfield  was  attacked  by  Lord  Camden 
for  his  course  in  sustaining  the  bill,  as  incon- 
sistent with  his  former  advocacy  of  the  rights  of 
the  Canadians,  he  practically  recanted  his  old 
assertions,  and  went  all  lengths  with  Thurlow. 
Mansfield,  with  all  his  ability  as  a  judge,  was  no 
friend  to  freedom.  The  House  of  Lords,  on  the 
return  of  the  amended  bill  from  the  Commons, 
was  compelled  to  listen  to  Chatham  and  Camden, 
who  with  sound  ,  law  and  manly  eloquence 
denounced  the  atrocious  measure,  and  were 
answered  with  nothing  better  than  the  impudent 
audacity  oi  men  who  cared  nothing  for  colonial 
liberty,  or  for  any  human  rights  beyond  the  four 
seas.  Even  Ireland  was  pressed  into  the  service, 
to  show  that  Canada  was  treated  in  the  same 
way,  and  that  there  were  already  places  under 
the  control  of  the  Government  where  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  denied. 

It  was  soon  made  manifest  that  Canada  was  to 
be  governed  by  unmixed  Royal  prerogative,  and 
used  to  annoy  the  other  colonies.     The   control  of 


Chaf.  VIII. j       PETITIONS  AGAINST   THE   QUEBEC  ACT. 


157 


Indian  affairs  was  taken  away  entirely  from  the 
English-speaking  colonies,  and  centred  in  Quebec. 
Judges  were  appointed  wrho  had  no  knowledge  of 
French  law,  and  the  Governor  and  Council  showed 
no  desire  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the  Act.  Sir 
Guy  Carleton,  afterwards  Lord  Dorchester,  was 
much  respected,  but  not  calculated  to  manage  civil 
reform. 

Within  a  few  months  repeated  protests  and  peti- 
tions came  to  England  from  the  British  and  French 
people  of  the  Province,  but  when  they  reached 
official  custody  they  were  laid  aside  without  notice. 

When  Lord  Camden  presented  such  a  petition 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  he  was  much  abused  for 
doing  so,  and  the  Lords  on  the  Government  benches 
admitted  that  they  had  received  and  suppressed 
such  documents,  and  insisted  he  had  no  right  to 
introduce  it.  Chatham  and  Camden  labored  zeal- 
ously for  the  repeal  of  the  Quebec  Act,  and  claimed 
that  its  mischief  had  now  become  palpable.  But 
they  failed,  and  their  bill  was  defeated,  after  a  hard 
fight  in  both  houses.  It  is  stated  that  an  intimation 
was  given  to  the  petitioners,  (who  especially  de- 
manded an  assembly  and  habeas  corpus,)  that  they 
might  have  what  they  chose  if  they  would  allow  the 
principle  to  be  maintained  that  Parliament  had  an 
unlimited  right  of  legislation  over  the  colonies. 
This  principle  apparently  was  not  manifest  to  the 
petitioners.  In  the  original  Quebec  Act,  as  it  went 
down  to  the  Commons,  the  right  in  the  colonial 
authorities    to   levy   any    taxes    whatever  was  pro- 


158 


LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR   FOR   DETROIT.       [Chap.  VIII. 


hibited.  In  the  Commons  an  amendment  was  ob- 
tained, allowing  the  council  to  impose  such  taxes  as 
the  inhabitants  of  the  various  local  districts  should 
vote  for  roads,  buildings,  and  other  local  purposes ; 
but  this  was  all. 

It  is  a  matter  worth  recording  that  at  the  head 
of  the  Quebec  committee  on  the  principal  petition, 
which  was  signed  by  nearly  every  leading  person  of 
British  origin  in  Quebec  and  Montreal,  stands  the 
name  of  Zachary  Macaulay.  This  patriotic  gentle- 
man, from  his  peculiar  name,  must  have  been  a 
kinsman  of  the  able  man  who  afterwards  became 
one  of  the  principal  supporters,  if  not  the  origina- 
tor, of  the  movement  against  the  slave  trade,  and 
was  a  friend  and  counsellor  of  Clarkson  and  Wil- 
berforce,  and  the  other  "  wise  men  of  Clapham," 
who  were  always  on  the  side  of  free'  institutions. 
The  fame  of  that  second  Zachary  Macaulay  has 
been  overshadowed  by  that  of  his  eminent  son, 
Lord  Macaulay,  the  historian.  His  relationship  to 
the  Quebec  merchant  is  not  known. 

Although  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  Province, 
where  the  settlements  were  more  dense,  the  system 
of  government  assumed  an  external  appearance  of 
legal  formality,  no  attempt  or  pretence  was  made  to 
relieve  the  western  region  from  martial  law.  A 
lieutenant  governor  was  sent  to  Detroit,  who  had 
almost,  if  not  quite,  absolute  authority.  Henry 
Hamilton  was  first  appointed  in  that  capacity,  and 
he  arrived  at  Detroit  in  1775.  The  old  system  was 
to  terminate  May  1,  1775.     It  was  not  till  1788  that 


Chap.  VIII.J  COURTS   ESTABLISHED  U)9 

any  courts  whatever  were  established  in  Upper 
Canada.  In  that  year,  on  the  24th  of  July,  Lord 
Dorchester,  by  proclamation,  created  four  districts 
in  Upper  Canada.  The  District  of  Hesse  embraced 
all  the  country  west  of  Long  Point,  on  Lake  Erie ; 
and  as  Detroit  was  still  retained  in  British  posses- 
sion, it  came  within  the  jurisdiction  of  that  district.1 
The  courts  were  called  Courts  of  Common  Pleas, 
being  courts  of  record,  with  a  clerk  and  sheriff. 
Their  jurisdiction  was  plenary,  with  no  appeal  unless 
to  the  Governor  and  Council. 

These  judges  were  not  bred  to  the  law,  as  there 
were  no  lawyers  in  Upper  Canada  until  1 794.  They 
were  generally  men  of  wealth  and  influence,  and  in 
civil  matters  their  judgments  were  probably  just. 
They  knew  nothing  of  criminal  law,  and  banished, 
imprisoned,  whipped  or  pilloried,  such  unlucky  cul- 
prits as  were  convicted  before  them.  It  is  errone- 
ously stated  by  Canniff  that  the  first  person  hanged 
in  Upper  Canada  was  convicted  before  Judge  Cart- 
wright,  of  the  Mecklenburg  District.2  The  honor 
(or  dishonor)  of  that  judicial  exploit  belongs  to 
Judge  Dejean,  although  there  were  perhaps  some 
court-martial  capital  convictions  before. 

These  lay  officials  of  all  ranks  in  the  remote 
districts  magnified  their  office.  The  Wisconsin 
annals  contain  many  curious  anecdotes  of  one 
Reaume,  who  in  early  times  had  a  commission  as 
justice  of  the  peace  at  Green  Bay,  which  is  said 
(perhaps  incorrectly)  to  have  run  through  various 

1  Canniff,  506.  2  Canniff,  508. 


160  ROUGH  JUSTICE. 


[Chap.  VIII. 


regimes  without  renewal,  and  to  have  served  as  a 
support  for  judicial  powers  at  discretion.  An  an- 
cient settler,1  in  his  reminiscences,  speaks  of  it  as 
rather  creditable  to  Judge  Reaume,  that  he  never 
inflicted  capital  punishment.  In  emulation  of  the 
great  Oriental  potentates,  but  lacking  a  signet,  he 
summoned  parties  before  him  by  sending  his  jack- 
knife,  in  lieu  of  process ;  and  no  one  who  saw  the 
symbol  ventured  to  disobey.  His  judgments  were 
also  Oriental.  Where  specific  duties  had  been 
violated,  he  granted  specific  performance.  In  other 
cases,  he  served  the  ends  of  justice  by  requiring  the 
party  or  parties  in  fault,  (for  sometimes  he  gave 
judgment  against  both,)  to  furnish  him  a  supply  of 
wood,  or  work  in  his  garden.  As,  during  his  long 
term  of  service,  he  was  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Michigan,  we  can  safely  claim  the  fame  of  this 
worthy  magistrate  for  our  own  glory,  whereof  pars 
magna  fuit.  He  has  not  been  without  followers  in 
our  State  county  courts,  when  for  a  few  years  the 
Law  Reformers  assumed  the  mantle  of  Jack  Cade, 
and  tried  causes  by  the  light  of  nature.  A  very 
upright  magistrate  of  this  stamp,  some  twenty-five 
or  thirty  years  ago,  having  a  culprit  before  him, 
charged  with  larceny,  of  which  there  was  no 
proof,  deemed  it  his  duty,  nevertheless,  to  convict 
him  ;  because,  though  innocent  of  the  charge  in 
question,  he  had  committed  depredations  on  the 
judge's  woodpile,  and  thereby  disturbed  the  peace 
and  dignity  of  the  State  of  Michigan. 

1  Grignon's  Narrative. 


Chap.  VIII.]  COURT  OF  COMMON  PLEAS.  161 

The  Common  Pleas  Judges  of  Detroit  were 
usually  educated  and  intelligent  gentlemen,  whose 
decisions  received  and  deserved  respect.  It  was 
not  remarkable  that  such  of  them  as  were  of 
French  extraction,  and  entirely  ignorant  of  British 
law,  should  commit  blunders  and  exceed  their 
powers.  These  latter  have  not  generally  been 
guilty  of  intentional  wrongs,  but  it  was  a  long 
time  before  they  had  the  means  of  knowing  any- 
thing about  legal  matters,  and  under  martial  law 
they  went  very  far. 

The  first  Judge  of  Common  Pleas  for  the 
District  of  Hesse  was  the  Honorable  William 
Dummer  Powell,  whose  reputation  has  not  been 
questioned.  He  was  appointed  in  1789,  and 
assumed  his  functions  in  1790.  It  is  supposed 
the  office  had  been  declined  by  some  previous 
appointee,1  (conjectured  to  have  been  William 
Robertson,)  as  all  the  other  judges,  and  the  clerk 
of  Hesse,  were  appointed  in  1788.  Gregor 
McGregor  of  Detroit  was  appointed  by  Lord 
Dorchester  sheriff,  and  Thomas  Smith  of  the 
same  place,  as  clerk  and  commissioner  of  the 
peace,  on  the  24th  day  of  July,  1788,  the  day 
when  the  districts  were  created.2  Thomas  Smith 
according  to  General  Cass,  was  in  1794  captain 
*of  a  company  of  militia  associated  with  the  Indians, 
when  Wayne  routed  them  before  the  British  fort 
at  Maumee,  and  was  killed  in  that  battle.3 

1  Canniff,  507.     2  Wayne  Records,  C,  380.     3  Cass,  Historical  Lecture. 
11 


162  DELAY   IN   CIVIL  GOVERNMENT.  [Chap.  VIII. 

The  court  held  its  first  session  in  1790,  and 
an  execution  sale  of  lands  (an  innovation  on  the 
common  law)  was  made  by  Sheriff  McGregor, 
under  a  judgment  rendered  in  August,   1790.1 

But  this  is  anticipating.  Until  the  action  of 
the  Governor  General,  in  1788,  the  Detroit  settle- 
ment and  its  dependencies,  including  all  the 
western  posts,  remained  without  any  civil  govern- 
ment. Although  the  preamble  of  the  Quebec 
Act  gave  as  a  reason  for  its  enactment  the  fact 
that,  under  the  King's  Proclamation  of  1763,  there 
were  several  colonies  and  settlements  which  had 
been  left  without  any  provision  for  civil  govern- 
ment, neither  the  act  itself,  nor  the  administration 
under  it,  made  any  approach  toward  such  a 
provision,  until  five  years  after  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  of  1783  had  rendered  the  retention  of 
possession  of  Detroit  by  the  British  a  wrongful 
and  arbitrary  usurpation. 

Accordingly  we  find  Mr.  Dejean  continuing  in 
his  old  functions.  As  he  kept  the  public  records, 
any  new  appointments  would  probably  have  been 
recorded  as  carefully  as  the  old  ones.  He  was 
evidently  one  of  those  men  who  had  qualities 
which  made  him  useful,  and  possibly  gave  him 
the  means  of  securing  himself  against  opposition. 
In  October,  1774,  he  used  the  public  records  in* 
his  custody  to  perpetuate  an  apology  from  George 
Meldrum,2  for  some  abusive  language  used  by  the 

1  Wayne  Records,  C,  380.  2  Id.,  A.,  278. 


Chap.  VIII.]  LEGAL  FORMALITIES.  163 

latter  at  a  public  assembly,  and  for  which  he 
declared  his  regret  as  having  been  the  result  of 
intoxication.  What  the  particular  charges  were 
which  the  wine  unloosed,  does  not  appear,  nor  is 
anything  said  of  their  falsehood,  but  it  is  plain 
it  was  not  safe  to  offend  Mr.   Dejean. 

In  March,  1775,  occurs  a  curious  illustration 
of  the  limits  of  his  judicial  powers  under  his  old 
commission  to  the  presidency  of  a  board  of 
arbitration.  One  Francis  Milhomme  was  charged 
by  John  Peck  with  having  stabbed  him  in  the 
stomach.  Thereupon  James  Sterling,  John  Porteous, 
(British  merchants,)  and  Duperon  Baby  and  Benoit 
Chapoton,  (French  citizens,)  were  chosen  arbi- 
trators, but  did  not  agree.  William  Edgar,  having 
been  made  umpire,  gave  his  opinion,  to  which  the 
rest  assented,  that  Milhomme  "  do  pay  unto  the 
said  John  Peck  sixty  bounds  New  York  currency, 
and  give  such  security  for  his  future  behaviour 
as  the  Commandant  may  think  proper."  Mr. 
Dejean  then,  as  justice  of  the  peace,  took 
Milhomme's  recognizance  with  sureties,  to  keep 
the  peace  and  for  his  good  behavior,  reciting 
that  he  was  then  detained  in  prison  for  the 
offence.  The  instrument  is  drawn  up  in  French, 
but  is  an  exact  and  formal  recognizance,  answering 
precisely  to  the  best  precedents.  Dejean  had 
evidently  a  good  knowledge  of  legal  forms,  and 
although,  perfiaps  wisely,  he  paid  no  attention  to 
that  part  of  his  commission  which  directed  him 
to  use  the  English  language,  he  was  well  enough 


164  RESTRAINT   OF  LIQUOR  SELLING.  [Chap.  VIII. 

qualified,  so  far  as  intelligence  went,  for  his 
position.  His  records  of  depositions  and  legal 
entries,  as  well  as  his  conveyances,  show  him  to 
have  been  thoroughly  educated.  There  must  have 
been  some  good  reason  undisclosed  why  such  a 
man  was  confined  by  the  earlier  commandants  to 
the  business  of  a  conservator  of  the  peace,  and 
allowed  no  broad  powers.  So  long  as  Detroit 
remained  subject  to  the  rule  of  the  commanding 
officer,  before  the  Quebec  Act,  there  was  nothing 
made  public  to  indicate  that  Dejean  had  done  or 
could  do  anything  seriously  out  of  the  way.  The 
commanders  did  not  venture  to  trust  his  discretion. 

In  the  beginning  of  June,  1775,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  the  merchants  of  Detroit  found 
it  necessary  to  take  steps  themselves  to  prevent 
the  sale  of  rum  to  the  Indians,  and  they  adopted 
very  stringent  rules  to  bind  themselves,  and  to 
keep  others  from  transgressing.  James  Abbott, 
James  Sterling,  Alexander  Macomb,  and  John 
Porteous,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  enforce 
the  rules.  A  penalty  of  three  hundred  pounds 
York  currency  was  imposed  for  any  infraction. 
All  questions  were  to  be  settled  by  arbitration, 
and  the  committee  were  empowered  to  distrain 
property  to  enforce  the  award.  The  whole  matter 
was  carefully  kept  out  of  the  courts. 

The  arrival  of  the  Lieutenant  Governor  made 
a  change  in  various  ways,  and  the  few  circum- 
stances which  have  come  to  light  during  this 
period    show    unmistakable    evidence    of    a    more 


Chap.  VIIL]  ARBITRARY  ACTION.  165 

arbitrary  system.  The  Boston  Port  Bill  which 
changed  the  government  of  Massachusetts,  and 
that  for  trying  American  offenders  in  England 
and  depriving  them  of  trial  by  a  jury  of  the 
vicinage,  were  introduced  with  the  Quebec  Bill, 
and  as  parts  of  one  scheme.  The  Ministry  had 
inaugurated  a  period  of  high  prerogative.  Ham- 
ilton came  out  prepared  to  be  as  tyrannical  as 
circumstances  might  require.  Although  Detroit 
was  not  within  reach  of  communication  with  any 
of  the  English  common-law  settlements,  it  com- 
manded the  whole  Indian  country,  and  he  was 
ready  to  use  any  means  to  hound  on  the  Indians 
against  the  American  malcontents.  In  December, 
1 775,  appears  the  first  and  apparently  the  only 
case  where  any  one  in  the  settlement  came  under 
suspicion  of  disloyalty,  and  the  subsequent  exper- 
iences of  this  gentleman  seem  to  show  that,  while 
he  was  probably  loyal  enough,  in  the  proper 
sense,  it  was  not  safe  in  Detroit  to  be  very  plain 
spoken.  Garret  Graverat,  (a  name  very  familiar 
to  the  old  residents  of  Michigan,)  one  of  the 
Albany  traders  who  settled  in  Detroit,  was,  in 
December,  1775,  compelled,  (so  far  as  appears 
without  any  complaint  or  showing,)  to  give  bail 
in  four  hundred  pounds  sterling,  conditioned  that 
he  "  does  not  correspond  with,  carry  intelligence 
to,  or  supply  any  of  his  Majesty's  Enemies,  nor 
does  anything  Determental  to  this  settlement  in 
Particular,  or  against  any  of  his  Majesty's  good 
subjects,  during  the   space    of  one    year  and    one 


166  CRIMINAL  PROSECUTION.  TChap.  VIIl. 

day,"  &c.  The  form  of  this  document  is  not 
equal  to  Dejean's  own  recognizances,  although 
nominally  taken  before  him,  and  it  is  very  com- 
prehensive and  open    to    dangerous    construction.1 

On  the  1 8th  of  March,  1776,  a  transaction 
took  place  which  has  been  much  discussed,  and 
was  certainly  peculiar.  It  shows  Dejean  going 
very  much  beyond  his  old  commission,  and  it  has 
been  assumed  as  the  act  of  an  ignorant  and 
mulish  magistrate,  incited  or  favored  by  a  lieutenant 
governor,  careless  of  law  and  propriety.  Facts 
recently  discovered,  and  not  before  published, 
show  that  the  proceeding  was  not  a  hasty  one, 
as  it  was  not  one  done  in  ignorance.  How  far 
they  divest  it  of  its  supposed  atrocity  cannot  be 
so  easily  determined.  It  is  evident  there  is  much 
in  its  unwritten  history  yet  unknown. 

On  that  day  a  mixed  jury  of  twelve  persons  (six 
English  and  six  French)  found  a  special  verdict,  in 
the  form  of  an  inquest,  convicting  a  Frenchman 
named  Jean  Contencinau,  of  stealing  furs  from  Ab- 
bott &  Finchley,  (a  commercial  firm  in  Detroit)  and 
Ann  Wyley,  a  negro  slave,  of  stealing  or  being 
accessory  to  stealing  a  purse  of  six  guineas 
from  the  same,  found  on  her  person.  They 
were  both  tried  for  attempting  to  set  fire  to 
the  house  of  Mr.  Abbott,  but  as  to  this  the  jury 
were  not  satisfied,  although  they  said    the  circum- 

1  The  narrative  of  Mr.  Dodge,  of  his  treatment  at  Detroit  during  the 
Revolution,  by  Hamilton  and  Dejean,  places  them  in  a  very  unfavorable 
light. 


Chap.  VIII. J  PRISONERS   HANGED.  167 

stances  were  very  strong  against  the  prisoners.  Up- 
on this  verdict  Dejean  sentenced  them  to  be  hanged 
on  the  Domain,  and  this  sentence  was  carried  out  a 
few  days  afterwards.  Dejean's  address  to  the  pris- 
oners has  been  preserved,  and  is  published,  with  the 
verdict,  in  Lanman's  History.1  There  is  one  serious 
error  in  the  translation,  which  represents  him  as 
stating  Ann  Wyley  was  "accused"  of  the  crime  of 
stealing,  whereas  she  was  found  by  the  jury  to  have 
been  "  accessory  "  to  it,  and  doubtless  this  is  what 
the  judge  said.  It  is  said  that  Carleton  and  the 
Chief  Justice  proposed,  when  they  heard  of  this 
execution,  to  have  both  Hamilton  and  Dejean  ar- 
rested and  taken  to  Quebec  for  trial.  If  so,  the 
stirring  times  probably  interfered  to  prevent  it,  for 
both  remained  in  Detroit  more  than  two  years  un- 
molested. Sir  Guy  soon  left  his  office  for  military 
duty,  and  was  succeeded  by  Haldimand. 

Recent  searches  have  brought  to  light  the  result 
of  two  preliminary  examinations  of  Contencinau 
held  by  Dejean  as  justice  of  the  peace  ;  and  it 
appears  that,  instead  of  being  a  summary  proceed- 
ing, nearly  a  year  and  a  half  elapsed  between 
examination  and  trial,  and  a  much  longer  time 
between  the  commission  of  the  offence  and  the 
conviction.  And  it  also  shows  either  that  the  ex- 
amination was  unfair,  (and  this  does  not  seem 
likely)  or  that  some  of  the  testimony  failed  before 
the  trial.  Ann  Wyley  made  no  confession — or  at 
least    signed    none.     Contencinau    signed    two,  or 

i  Pages  133,  134,  135. 


168  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  PRISONERS.  [Chap.  VIII. 

rather  affixed  his  mark.  At  the  second,  Captain 
Lernoult,  the  commanding  officer,  was  present,  and 
certified  that  the  statement  was  read  to  the  prisoner 
in  his  presence,  and  he  confessed  to  its  several 
articles.  From  this  confession  it  would  appear  that 
on  the  24th  of  June,  1774,  Ann  Wyley,  who  was  a 
domestic  slave  of  the  house,  gave  Contencinau  a 
cartridge  to  use  in  setting  fire  to  the  house.  He 
took  it  and  wrapped  it  up  with  more  powder  in  a 
linen  cloth,  and  when  the  family  were  at  dinner  put 
it  on  a  shelf  and  fired  it,  and  then  carried  off  the 
money-box  and  gave  it  to  Ann.  That  evening  she 
gave  him  several  dollars  in  specie  and  bills,  and  also 
handed  him  the  casket  to  burn,  which  he  did.  He 
and  one  Landry  both  confessed  to  stealing  furs,  and 
Contencinau  admitted  stealing  some  knives.  Jane 
Wassenton,  (Washington,)  a  soldier's  wife,  testified 
to  having  various  articles  left  with  her  on  false 
pretexts  by  both  Jean  and  Nancy,  and  that 
the  latter,  in  sending  a  lot  of  soiled  linen  for 
the  wash,  included  some  of  Jean's  shirts,  in  a 
pocket  of  one  of  which  she  found  a  green 
purse  containing  six  guineas,  which  Jean  claimed 
he  knew  nothing  about,  and  charged  Nancy 
with  concealing  there.  The  last  examination  was 
November  2,  1774.  The  evidence  was  enough  to 
put  the  respondents  on  trial.  The  only  explanation 
of  the  delay  is  that  no  one  was  authorized  to  try  a 
prisoner  for  a  capital  felony,  and  Captain  Lernoult 
probably  did  not  care  to  venture  on  exercising  or 
conferring  such  a  power.     Under  the  Quebec  Act, 


Chap.  VIII.]  PROCEEDINGS  BEFORE  TRIAL.  169 

the  offence  could  have  been  punished,  if  there  had 
been  any  court,  or  any  ascertained  venue,  but 
Detroit  was  unattached  to  any  county,  and  there 
were  no  courts.  The  delay  of  a  year,  from  the 
spring  of  1775  to  that  of  1776,  was  too  long  to  be 
accounted  for,  except  on  the  idea  that  Hamilton 
either  consulted  the  authorities  at  Quebec,  or  sought 
light  from  some  quarter.  As  both  he  and  Dejean 
were  both  afterwards  within  reach  of  civil  and 
criminal  jurisdiction,  and  not  only  were  not  prose- 
cuted, but  Hamilton  was  made  Governor  General 
of  Canada,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  state- 
ment of  their  intended  arrest  was  not  erroneous. 
The  trial  was  apparently  a  fair  one,  and  the  jury  did 
not  convict  of  arson  which  was  made  out  on  the 
examination.  If  there  was  any  irregularity,  (although 
Ann  Wyley  could  not  technically  have  been  held  on 
such  a  finding,)  it  did  not  go  to  the  general  merits ; 
and  the  jury  was  made  up  of  the  best  citizens  of 
Detroit.  The  punishment  was  according  to  our 
notions  beyond  justice,  but  it  was  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  laws  of  England.  Dejean's 
address  was  humane  and  temperate.  It  seems 
difficult  to  believe  that  after  such  long  delays  he 
would  have  ventured  upon  an  act  which  he  had 
shrunk  from  before,  without  some  assurance  of  its 
legality  or  some  powerful  prompting  ;  and  the  case 
was  not  otherwise  one  of  public  concern.  Of  course 
the  act  was  illegal,  and  both  he  and  the  Lieutenant 
Governor  were  liable  to  punishment  for  it.1 

«  The  appointment  by  the  Crown  of  a  special  trial  commission,  would 
have  involved  creating  auxiliary  local  officers  and  magistrates,  which  would 


170 


DEJEAN   A    PLURALIST.  [Chap.  VIII. 


There  is,  on  the  other  hand,  full  reason  to  regard 
him  as  implicated  with  Hamilton  in  his  various 
official  transactions,  and  he  was  evidently  a  favorite 
and  confidant,  and  probably  a  very  accommodating 
one.  He  was  made  Secretary  to  the  Lieutenant 
Governor,  and  given  the  only  remaining  lucrative 
post  in  the  settlement — that  of  King's  Receiver ;  so 
that  he  was  at  once  justice  of  the  peace,  judge, 
notary,  auctioneer,  recorder,  receiver  of  moneys, 
and  private  secretary.  A  man  must  have  been  very 
virtuous,  or  very  subservient,  to  get  control  of  all  the 
paying  public  business  of  the  post ;  and  events 
showed  that  Mr.  Dejean  felt  safest  with  his  patron. 

There  is  very  little  of  interest  to  be  learned  con- 
cerning the  Michigan  settlements  during  the 
revolutionary  period.  Under  the  illegal  Indian 
grants,  which  the  commandants  had  found  it  neces- 
sary or  desirable  to  sanction,  (as  their  own  were 
usually  much  larger  than  those  of  private  citizens,) 
settlements  crept  slowly  along  the  great  water- 
courses, reaching  the  St.  Clair  River  to  the  north  and 
the  Raisin  on  the  south.  Several  grants  were  made 
by  the  commanders  at  Mackinaw,  on  the  mainland, 
and  on  Bois-blanc  Island.  Grosse  He  and  Hog 
Island,  in  Detroit  River,  were  granted — the  former, 
with  some  smaller  islands  near  it,  to  Alexander 
Macomb,  and  the  latter  to  George  McDougall. 

The  sentiments  of  the  French  settlers  towards 
Great  Britain  were  in  general  loyal.     They  had  no 

have  given  permanent  civil  government.  While  this  was  promised  by  the 
implications  of  the  Quebec  Act.it  was  not  intended  by  the  Ministry  to  be 
fulfilled. 


Chap.  VIII.]  FRENCH  INHABITANTS.  171 

intimate  relations  with  the  American  colonies,  and 
had  never  been  in  the  enjoyment  of  such  civil  rights 
as  made  the  British  rule  irksome,  merely  because 
despotic  in  form.  There  were  other  grievances 
which  they  felt  heavily,  but  which  did  not  form  any 
peculiarly  close  bond  of  sympathy  with  their  Amer- 
ican neighbors.  The  old  war  with  France  on  this 
continent  was  conducted  effectively  by  American 
troops,  and  there  had  been  for  a  long  time  a  jealousy 
between  Canada  and  the  other  colonies.  One  im- 
mediate object  of  the  Congress  at  Albany,  in  1754, 
was  to  furnish  more  effective  protection  against 
French  hostilities.  But  the  evident  disregard  of 
England  for  the  feelings  and  customs  of  the  Cana- 
dians, the  cruel  treatment  of  the  Acadians,  and 
the  haughty  insolence  which  for  many  years 
after  the  conquest  the  original  settlers  of  Cana- 
da had  encountered,  as  if  they  had  no  rights  in 
the  country,  did  not  fail  to  dampen  their  attach- 
ment for  their  new  sovereignty,  although  it  failed 
to  excite  them  to  rebellion.  The  greatest  evil  of 
the  French  colonial  system  was  its  complete 
centralization.  Nothing  was  left  to  people  or  com- 
munities ;  and  however  desirous  the  settlers  might 
have  been  to  assert  themselves,  they  lacked  those 
habits  of  organization  which  from  inheritance  and 
usage  were  instinctive  in  British  and  American  so- 
ciety. They  were  brave  and  manly,  but  they  had 
not  learned  to  make  their  own  leaders.  Their  dis- 
content impelled  them  as  a  body  to  nothing  more 
dangerous  than  neutrality,  and  when  they  went  into 


172  SENTIMENTS  OF  THE   PEOPLE.  [Chap.  VIII. 

the  military  service  at  all,  it  was  not  strange  that 
they  enlisted  under  the  British  flag  and  fought  with 
spirit.  Some  care  seems  to  have  been  taken  at 
Detroit  to  conciliate  Frenchmen  of  influence,  and 
commissions  in  the  militia  were  given  to  prominent 
citizens.  There  was  no  period  during  the  Revolu- 
tion when  any  success  worth  mentioning  attended 
the  efforts  of  the  Americans  to  conciliate  the 
French  Canadians,  except  in  Kaskaskia  and  Vincen- 
nes,  although  a  close  alliance  was  kept  up  with 
France,  and  many  natives  of  that  country  were 
found  in  our  own  army  as  well  as  among  the  auxil- 
iaries. The  British  residents,  as  is  not  unusual  in 
colonies,  were  more  bitter  and  vindictive  than  any 
other  portion  of  the  King's  subjects.  If  there  were 
any  American  sympathizers  in  Detroit,  their  names 
have  not  come  down  to  us  ;  unless  Garret  Graverat 
was  one,  which  is  not  altogether  unlikely. 

Both  governments  saw  from  the  beginning 
the  importance  of  Detroit.  As  the  influential 
centre  of  all  Indian  affairs,  whoever  occupied  it 
controlled  their  movements.  The  settlement  of 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  by  Americans,  was  sure 
to  lead  sooner  or  later  to  a  control  over  the 
remainder  of  the  Northwest.  If  the  Americans 
secured  their  independence,  those  countries,  if 
settled    at    all,    would    become    American    States. 

The  British  could  only  secure  their  dominion 
in  this  region  by  preserving  it  as  a  wilderness. 
The  plan  was  early  adopted  of  depopulating  so 
much  of  the  western    country    as    was    settled    by 


Chap.  VIII.]  BRITISH  AND   INDIAN   ALLIANCE. 


173 


Americans,  and  of  keeping  off  inhabitants  by 
rendering  it  unsafe  for  them  to  go  there.  Deliber- 
ately and  remorselessly  the  plans  were  laid  to 
excite  the  Indians  to  indiscriminate  slaughter,  and 
from  1775  to  1 8 14  the  tribes  were  urged  on  and 
stirred  up  by  British  commanders  or  emissaries 
against  the  American  settlements.  Men  who 
were  usually  reasonable  and  humane  in  their  own 
transactions,  felt  no  compunction  against  inciting 
the  savages  to  the  worst  cruelties;  and  gentlemen 
and  scholars  paid  rum  and  money  to  their  brothers 
in  ferocity  for  the  scalps  of  women  and  children 
slain  at  their  bidding.  There  are  names  that  no 
American  borderer  has  yet  learned  to  speak, 
without  finding  it  hard  to   restrain    a    malediction. 

The  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Detroit  controlled 
all  the  western  posts.  At  that  time  the  next  in 
importance  was  Mackinaw.  Kaskaskia  and 
Vincennes  were  the  only  two  remaining  points  of 
prominence.  Rocheblave,  a  Frenchman,  com- 
manded at  Kaskaskia,  and  Lieutenant  Edward 
Abbott  at   Vincennes. 

The  well-known  policy  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, which  drew  forth  the  eloquent  invectives  of 
Chatham  and  many  other  statesmen,  was  accepted 
by  Hamilton  without  hesitation  or  reluctance,  and 
he  readily  offered  to  assume  the  office  of  setting 
on  the  savages.  He  gained  their  adhesion  and 
aid  by  the  usual  methods,  and  found  about  him 
emissaries  enough  to  help  him.  Several  raids 
were    made    upon    the    settlements   in    Ohio    and 


174  CLARK'S  CAMPAIGN.  [Chap.  VIII. 

Kentucky,  till  at  length  George  Rogers  Clark 
set  out  from  Virginia,  and  began  to  change  the 
face  of  affairs.  It  was  not  long  before  he  captured 
Kaskaskia  by  surprise  and  without  bloodshed,  on 
the  fourth  of  July,  1778.  Rocheblave  was  taken 
to  Virginia  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  His  wife 
contrived  to  conceal  or  destroy  his  papers.  The 
French  people  of  Kaskaskia,  after  having  their 
fears  excited  by  apocryphal  stories  of  the  ferocity 
of  the  Long  Knives,  and  expecting  the  fate  of 
their  Acadian  kinsmen,  were  agreeably  surprised 
at  meeting  very  friendly  and  cordial  treatment ; 
and  Clark's  judicious  management  secured  their 
attachment.  By  their  means  Vincennes  surrendered 
without  a  struggle ;  and  the  hostility  of  the  Indians 
in  that  quarter  was  quieted. 

The  news  of  this  mishap  caused  some  excite- 
ment in  Detroit,  and  Hamilton  began  preparations 
for  raising  a  force  to  reconquer  the  country.  He 
finally  set  out  early  in  October,  and  Major  De 
Peyster,  commanding  at  Mackinaw,  sent  out  Lan- 
glade to  go  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  and  rouse 
up  the  Indians.  Hamilton  reached  Vincennes  about 
the  middle  of  December.  At  this  time,  by  reason  of 
General  Mcintosh's  failure  to  do  what  was  expected 
of  him,  Captain  Helm  and  one  soldier  made  up  all 
the  garrison.  As  the  army  approached  it.  Helm 
planted  a  loaded  cannon  in  the  gateway,  and  refused 
to  surrender  without  the  honors  of  war,  which  were 
granted,  and  the  garrison  of  one  officer  and  one 
private  marched    out   accordingly.     Hamilton    now 


Chap.  VIII.]  ATTACK  ON   BOONE.  175 

dismissed  his  Indians  for  the  winter,  intending  in  the 
spring  to  organize  a  large  expedition  and  sweep 
the  borders. 

An  expedition  against  Detroit  had  been  planned 
the  same  summer,  but  it  was  broken  up  mainly  by 
the  delays  of  General  Mcintosh.  At  the  same  time 
predatory  excursions  went  out  from  Detroit.  Isi- 
dore Chene  (a  Detroit  Frenchman,  and  an  adopted 
chief  among  the  Indians,)  set  out  with  a  few  Cana- 
dians, and  a  large  body  of  savages,  on  a  marauding 
expedition,  which  was  conducted  in  the  usual 
fashion.  In  August  they  appeared  before  Boones- 
borough,  and  demanded  a  surrender.  Boone  had 
just  returned  from  an  Indian  captivity.  In  February, 
1778,  he  had  been  taken  by  the  Indians  to  Detroit, 
and  had  been  kindly  treated  there,  but  the  Indians, 
who  had  taken  a  fancy  to  him,  refused  to  let  him  be 
ransomed.  Remembering  this,  Boone  was  inclined 
to  place  some  confidence  in  Chene's  promise  of  fair 
treatment,  and  agreed  to  meet  him  with  eight  com- 
rades outside  of  the  fort,  but  under  cover  of  his 
garrison's  guns.  After  terms  were  made,  the 
Indians  treacherously  endeavored  to  seize  Boone 
and  his  associates,  but  the  marksmen  shot  down  the 
leaders,  and  they  got  back  safely  through  a  cross- 
fire into  the  fort,  from  which  the  assailants,  after  a 
siege  of  ten  days,  and  such  a  waste  of  ammunition 
that  the  garrison  picked  up  125  pounds  of  their  bul- 
lets, retired  with  considerable  loss. 

Clark,  having  learned  Hamilton's  plans,  did 
not  wait  for  spring,  but  started  for  Vincennes   on 


176  HAMILTON  CAPTURED  AT  VINCENNES.        [Chap.  VIII. 

the  7th  of  February,  with  176  men,  partly  French 
volunteers.  The  country  was  almost  impassable, 
and  no  thought  of  danger  entered  the  mind  of 
the  Governor.  On  the  23rd  of  February,  Clark, 
whose  men  had  marched  several  miles  through 
water,  appeared  before  the  town  and  began  the 
attack.  It  was  kept  up  until  the  next  morning, 
with  no  loss  to  the  Americans,  who  kept  well 
under  cover,  and,  being  good  marksmen,  picked 
off  the  gunners  through  the  ports.  At  nine  on 
the  morning  of  the  24th,  Clark  demanded  an  un- 
conditional surrender,  in  very  explicit  and  not  al- 
together civil  terms.  Refusing  to  grant  a  truce, 
he  agreed  to  meet  Hamilton  at  the  church,  about 
eighty  yards  from  the  fort,  who  came  there  with 
Major  Hay.  Clark  through  this  interview  adhered 
to  his  demands,  and  gave  as  a  reason,  when 
asked,  that  as  the  principal  Indian  partisans  from 
Detroit,  including  Major  Hay,  were  with  Hamilton, 
and  as  their  course  had  been  so  atrocious,  he 
would  on  no  account  give  up  the  right  to  deal 
with  them  as  he  saw  fit.  The  capitulation  was 
made  that  afternoon.  Clark  during  the  parley 
had  become  more  favorably  impressed  with 
Hamilton,  and  consented  to  better  terms.  A  few 
days  thereafter,  a  company  from  Detroit  of  forty 
men  under  command  of  Mr.  Adhemar,  with 
supplies  and  despatches  for  Hamilton,  was  captured 
on  the  Wabash.  Dejean  was  with  them,  having 
gone,  it  is  said,1  to  obtain  means  of  justifying 
himself  for  his  judicial  excesses  before  mentioned. 

*  C.  I.  Walker's  Address. 


Chap.  VIII.]     HAMILTON  AND   HIS   FRIENDS   IN   IRONS.  177 

Thomas  Williams  was  acting  in  Dejean's 
offices  of  justice  and  recorder  in  March,  about 
the  time  of  his  capture,  probably  by  appointment 
of  the  local  commander,  but  if  Dejean  was  under 
censure — possibly  from  superior  authority. 

A  part  of  the  prisoners  were  discharged 
on  the  usual  terms,  and  returned  to  Detroit. 
Hamilton,  Hay,  Dejean,  (who  figures  as  Grand 
Judge  of  Detroit,)  Lamothe,  an  officer  in  the 
Indian  Department,  and  Jonathan  Schiefflin,  with 
a  few  others,  were  taken  to  Virginia.  Hamilton, 
Hay,  Dejean  and  Lamothe,  were  put  in  irons.  The 
rest  were  paroled.  The  severity  exercised  towards 
the  former,  was  because  they  had  been  especially 
responsible  for  Indian  atrocities,  and  had  offered 
rewards  for  scalps  instead  of  prisoners.  Governor 
Jefferson  and  the  Virginia  Legislature  refused  to 
exchange  them  or  mitigate  their  treatment,  which 
Washington  admitted  was  richly  deserved,  although 
he  urged  its  relaxation  on  other  grounds.  Finally 
they  were  released  from  their  irons,  and  Lamothe 
and  Dejean  having  given  the  somewhat  stringent 
parole  demanded  of  them,  (which  General  Wash- 
ington said  was  the  same  required  of  our  officers,) 
were  allowed  to  go  to  New  York.  Dejean  nevet 
came  to  Detroit  again.  Hay  and  Hamilton,  after 
holding  out  a  long  time,  finally  gave  their  parole 
also,  and  were  released.  Hamilton  said  afterwards 
that  this  imprisonment  continued  twenty-two 
months.' 

1  Wayne  Record,  C  ,  p.  392. 
12 


178  NEW  FORT.      DePEYSTER  ARRIVES.  [Chap.  VIII. 

During  Hamilton's  absence  in  Vincennes,  the 
fort  at  Detroit  was  in  command  of  Major  R.  B. 
Lernoult,  (sometimes  erroneously  written  Le  Noult,) 
who,  anticipating  an  attack  from  below,  built  a 
new  fort  on  the  rising  ground  then  called  the 
second  terrace,  (between  Griswold  and  Wayne, 
Congress  and  Michigan  Avenues,)  which  remained 
until  about  1827.  This  was  called  Fort  Lernoult, 
until  the  Americans  changed  its  name  to  Fort 
Shelby. 

Major  De  Peyster,  of  Mackinaw,  sent  out  in 
the  spring  of  1779  a  second  expedition  to  join 
Hamilton  in  Illinois,  but  his  capture  foiled  it,  and 
that  country  remained  in  American  hands  there- 
after. Had  it  not  been  for  this,  the  boundary 
might  have  been  fixed  at  the  Ohio  instead  of  the 
lakes. 

De  Peyster  was  sent  to  Detroit  to  succeed 
Hamilton,  but  was  not  made  Lieutenant  Governor. 
The  only  others  who  held  that  title  were  Patrick 
Sinclair,  De  Peyster' s  successor  at  Mackinaw, 
and  John  Hay.  From  this  time  on,  although  the 
forays  continued  with  unabated  fury  through  the 
Revolution,  the  Indians  were  encouraged  to  bring 
in  live  prisoners. 

Major  Arent  Schuyler  De  Peyster,  who  came 
to  Detroit  in  1779,  was  a  man  of  some  distinction, 
and  although  on  some  occasions  very  arbitrary, 
was  undoubtedly  a  good  officer.  In  one  respect 
his  course  was  open  to  criticism.  The  largest 
number  of  Indian  grants  ever  made  at    one    time 


Chap.  VIIL]  De  PEYSTER. 


179 


during  the  legitimate  "British  possession,  were 
made  in  July,  1 780,  soon  after  his  arrival  ;  and 
the  largest  one  of  those  (of  5,000  acres)  was 
made  to  himself.  Many  years  afterwards  he 
relinquished  it  to  a  nephew,  but  it  was  so  plainly 
illegal  that  it  was  not  respected.  He  also  made 
some  large  concessions  of  public  property  without 
legal  right,  to  Captain  Bird  and  others.  From 
the  numerous  indications  of  his  character,  appear- 
ing in  records  and  elsewhere,  the  general  inference 
is  favorable.  He  had  some  literary  pretensions, 
was  a  bon  vivant,  patronized  liberally  the  card- 
parties,  balls  and  assemblies,  and  was  very  happy 
in  his  domestic  relations,  though  childless.  On 
occasion  he  performed  the  duties  of  chaplain,  and 
in  that  capacity  married  Thomas  Williams  (father 
of  Gen.  John  R.  Williams)  to  Miss  Cecilia  Campau, 
on  the  7th  of  May,  1781.  John  Kirby,  of  Grosse 
Pointe,  was  baptized  by  one  of  the  commanding 
officers,  and  this  is  said  not  to  have  been  an 
uncommon  occurrence.  Whether  Major  (then 
Colonel)  De  Peyster  performed  this  rite  also  does 
not  appear,  but  it  is  quite  likely.  In  many  respects 
one  is  reminded,  in  considering  him,  of  a  modern- 
ized and  slightly  toned  down  Baron  of  Bradwar- 
dine.  In  his  latter  days  he  retired  to  Dumfries, 
where,  in  1796,  he  commanded  the  volunteers 
among  whom  Burns  was  enrolled, — the  "awkward 
squad"  whom  'he  did  not  wish  to  fire  over  his 
grave.  Very  kindly  relations  existed  between  the 
veteran  and  the    poet,    who    addressed    and    dedi- 


180  DePEYSTER.  rCHAP.  VIII. 

cated  one  of  his  latest    poems    to    his    old    friend 
and  commander. 

He  was  unquestionably  arbitrary  in  his  official 
dealings,  but  probably  no  more  so  than  his  own 
predecessors,  who  did  pretty  much  as  they  pleased. 
In  the  summer  of  1783,  upon  the  application  of 
one  Cuyler,  who  came  on  from  the  east  to  collect 
a  claim  of  Garret  Graverat,  De  Peyster  com- 
pelled the  latter  to  turn  over  to  Cuyler  more 
than  ten  thousand  dollars  worth  of  furs  and  other 
property  belonging  to  the  firm  of  Graverat 
&  Visgar  and  their  late  partner  Colin  Andrews, 
under  duress  of  being  sent  down  immediately  by 
boat  to  the  lower  country.  Graverat,  to  prevent 
the  ruin  of  his  Detroit  business,  submitted  ;  but 
entered  a  formal  sworn  protest  on  the  public 
records.  As  De  Peyster,  when  he  retired,  went 
abroad,  there  was  no  opportunity  to  hold  him 
responsible  in  the  American  or  colonial  courts ; 
but  it  was  an  atrocious  act  of  tyranny,  done  with- 
out even  a  hearing,  and  with  profane  threats 
unbecoming  an  officer.  As  the  existence  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  must  have  been  known  before 
this  time,  and  the  exercise  of  extreme  and  sum- 
mary violence  was  as  much  against  English  as 
against  American  law,  such  conduct  can  only  be 
accounted  for  on  personal  grounds;  and  the  ex- 
planation must  probably  be  found  in  Graverat' s 
being-  obnoxious  to  the  commander.  If  he  was  an 
American  in  feeling,  the  success  of  the  American 
arms,    and    the    annexation    of    Michigan    to    the 


Chap.  VIII. J  BIRD'S   EXPEDITION.  181 

United  States,  might  very  naturally  have  embit- 
tered such  a  fierce  loyalist  as  De  Peyster  against 
him. 

In  1778  there  is  a  record  of  quite  as  summary 
an  order  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Hamilton,  stop- 
ping the  sale  of  a  negress  whose  ownership  was 
questioned,  and  sending  her  to  Rocheblave  at  Kas- 
kaskia  to  have  the  matter  examined,  instead  of 
having  it  tried  in  Detroit. 

In  1 780,  Captain  Bird's  famous  expedition  set 
out  southward,  and  among  other  depredations,  des- 
troyed several  Kentucky  settlements.  This  was 
organized  at  great  expense,  under  orders  of  Gen- 
eral Haldimand,  who  had  succeeded  Sir  Guy 
Carleton  in  his  command  of  the  Province.  The 
expenses  of  outfit  at  Detroit  alone  were  nearly  or 
quite  $300,000.  Bird  found  it  difficult  to  restrain 
the  Indians,  who  made  complete  work ;  and  it  is 
supposed  that  motives  of  humanity  induced  him  to 
suspend  going  further.  The  inhabitants  were  made 
Indian  prisoners,  and  stripped  of  all  their  posses- 
sions. In  August,  1784,  Bird,  in  selling  a  mulatto 
woman,  warranted  his  title  by  stating  that  at 
Martin's  Fort  she  was  among  the  booty  captured  by 
the  Indians,  and  given  to  him  afterwards  by  the 
captors. 

This  expedition  was  accompanied  by  Detroit 
militia,  commaaded  by  Chabert  De  Joncaire,  Jona- 
than SchiefBiri,  Isidore  Chene,  and  others. 

This  aroused  great  excitement  in  the  United 
States,  and  various  plans  were    proposed  to   send 


182  MORAVIANS   IN  MICHIGAN.  [Chap.  VIII. 

expeditions  under  Brodhead  and  Clark  to  capture 
Detroit.  Clark  was  very  anxious  to  undertake  it, 
but  the  invasion  of  Virginia  by  Cornwallis  suspend- 
ed these  side  issues,  and  nothing  effective  was  done. 
During  the  various  Indian  expeditions,  and 
other  frontier  warfare,  there  had  been  some  diffi- 
culty in  keeping  all  the  tribes  contented  under 
the  British  control,  and  all  sorts  of  expedients 
were  resorted  to,  in  order  that  this  might  be 
secured. 

Not  long  before  the  Revolution,  David  Zeis- 
berger,  an  eminent  Moravian  missionary,  with 
Heckewelder  and  some  others,  founded  missions 
on  the  Muskingum  at  Schonbrunn,  Lichtenau  and 
Gnadenhutten,  and  the  converts,  particularly  among 
the  Delawares,  were  numerous.  Colonel  Alex- 
ander McKee,  Matthew  Elliott,  and  Simon  Girty, 
made  repeated  attempts  to  induce  these  Indians 
to  join  the  British  and  fight  against  the  Amer- 
icans, but  without  success.  The  Detroit  Hurons 
were  no  more  successful  in  their  efforts  to  per- 
suade or  frighten  them*  although  the  Delaware 
chiefs  were  wavering.  The  English  agents 
persuaded  Governor  Hamilton  that  the  mission- 
aries were  acting  as  spies  in  the  American 
interest,  and  he  became  very  much  incensed,  and 
made  threats,  which  the  emissaries  used  to  influence 
the  chiefs  against  them.  One  of  the  chiefs,  Cap- 
tain Pipe,  was  at  last  cajoled  into  declaring  for 
the  English,  and  the  tribe  became  divided.  When 
De    Peyster   was    in    command,    Elliott   persuaded 


Chap.  VIII.]  MORAVIANS  AT  DETROIT.  183 

him,  by  representations  that  Captain  Pipe  had 
denounced  the  missionaries,  to  send  a  force 
under  Elliott  to  capture  them  and  bring-  them 
in.  After  much  suffering,  they  reached  Sandusky, 
whence  Captain  Pipe  was  to  bring  them  to 
Detroit.  During  this  whole  journey  they  com- 
plained especially  of  the  affronts  and  injuries 
received  from  Simon  Girty.  Pipe  being  on  a 
drunken  frolic,  the  missionaries  started  for 
Detroit  ahead  of  him  on  the  25  th  of  October, 
1 78 1.  The  winter  was  early,  and  the  country 
through  the  Black  Swamp,  and  round  the  head 
of  the  lake,  was  nearly  impassable ;  but  after 
much    labor   and    exposure    they    reached    Detroit. 

Their  reception  by  De  Peyster  was  very 
ungracious,  and  he  put  off  their  hearing  for  sev- 
eral days.  They  were  kindly  sheltered  by  Mr. 
Tybout,  a  French  inhabitant,  and  received  atten- 
tion and  courtesies  from  others.  On  the  9th  of 
November,  they  were  confronted  with  Captain 
Pipe  before  the  .Commandant,  when  the  chief 
expressed  himself  very  bitterly  concerning  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  urged  on  by  the 
English  to  join  them,  and  completely  denied  all 
the  stories  against  the  missionaries,  who  had 
studiously  avoided  any  conduct  which  could  favor 
either  side,  and  had  endeavored  to  preserve  the 
Indians  from  hostilities.  De  Peyster  was  finally 
satisfied,  and  thereafter  was  very  kindly  disposed 
and  aided  them  liberally.  Having  returned  to 
Sandusky,  they  were  subjected  to  renewed  threats 


184 


NEW  GNADENHUTTEN.  fOxr.  VIII. 


and  indignities  from  Girty.  De  Peyster  sent 
word  to  bring  them  back  to  Detroit,  but  to  treat 
them  kindly;  and  in  April,  1782,  they  came  back 
under  escort.  The  Commandant  told  them  he 
had  taken  this  course  for  their  safety,  and  offered 
to  give  them  means  of  returning  to  the  central 
mission  at  Bethlehem,  or  to  allow  them  to  remain. 

They  decided  to  remain,  if  they  and  their 
flock  could  settle  near  Detroit.  By  arrangement 
with  the  Chippewas,  dwelling  on  the  Clinton  (then 
known  as  the  Huron)  River,  about  twenty  miles 
northeast  of  Detroit,  they  fixed  their  colony  near 
the  mouth  of  that  stream,  a  few  miles  from  Lake 
St.  Clair.  De  Peyster  contributed  such  outfit  as 
they  needed  of  utensils  and  provisions,  with  some 
horses  and  cattle,  his  estimable  lady  also  adding 
other  useful  presents.  The  Church  of  England 
"Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts  "  sent  them  a  draft  for  one  hundred 
pounds  sterling,  which  was  a  very  timely  gift. 
On  the  2 1  st  of  July,  1782,  Zeisberger  and  Jung- 
man,  (married  missionaries  with  their  families,) 
and  Edwards  and  Jung,  (unmarried  missionaries,) 
with  some  white  families,  including  that  of  Rich- 
ard Connor,  and  several  Indian  converts,  reached 
their  new  refuge,  and  solemnly  in  prayer  conse- 
crated it  to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  under  the 
name  of  Gnadenhutten,  in  memory  of  their  old 
home  on  the  Muskingum.  It  was  usually  called 
New  Gnadenhutten.  In  August  they  had  com- 
pleted a  village,   consisting    of  a    street    of  block- 


Chap.  VIII. i 


COLD  WINTER.  185 


houses  with  substantial  outbuildings.  De  Peyster, 
(now  colonel)  was  an  active  friend,  and  Governor 
General  Haldimand  also  befriended  them.  On 
the  5th  of  November,  1782,  they  opened  their 
new  church.  In  1783,  the  sugar  crop  was  large, 
and  the  people,  white  and  red,  were  enabled  by 
their  hunting  and  manufacture  of  wooden  wares, 
to  keep  themselves  supplied  with  all  they  needed. 
On  receiving  news  of  the  peace,  which  reached 
them  in  May,  they  endeavored  to  gather  in  from 
Ohio  more  of  their  Indians,  and  succeeded  quite 
well  in  doing  so. 

By  a  mistake  in  the  kind  of  corn  which  they 
had  planted,  they  lost  that  crop  by  early  frosts. 
The  next  winter  of  178^-4  was  one  of  the 
severest  on  record.  The  ice  on  Lake  St.  Clair, 
a  mile  from  shore,  was  three  feet  two  inches 
thick,  and  the  snow  five  feet  deep.  The  winter 
of  1874-5  resembled  it  more  closely  than  any 
year  within  living  memory.  The  deep  snow 
interfered  with  hunting,  and  the  ice  with  fishing. 
The  winter  was  a  trying  one,  but  they  succeeded 
in  getting  a  large  quantity  of  venison  from  a 
herd  that  strayed  into  the  neighborhood,  and 
with  the  surplus  of  this  they  purchased  corn.  In 
the  spring  they  made  sugar,  and  caught  an  abund- 
ance of  fish,  and,  when  the  snow  melted,  gathered 
quantities  of  cranberries.  Detroit  furnished  a 
ready  market  'for  all  they  could  spare. 

A  straight  road  had  been  run  for  their  accom- 
dation   from    Tremble's    mill,    on    Tremble's    (now 


186  GOVERNOR    HAY. 


[Chap.  VIII. 


Connor's)  Creek,  to  the  Moravian  village,  thus  very 
much  shortening  the  otherwise  long  and  round- 
about lake  shore  road.  This  was  the  first  inland 
road  made  in  Michigan. 

In  May,  1 784,  they  came  to  Detroit  to  bid  fare- 
well to  Colonel  De  Peyster,  who  was  about  depart- 
ing, and  who  commended  them  to.  Governor  Hay, 
(Hamilton's  companion,)  who  had  just  been  sent 
out  to  take  charge  of  the  post.  Hay  had  recently 
been  in  England,  where  the  case  of  the  mission- 
aries had  received  attention,  and  he  had  been 
directed  to  encourage  them.  As  this  was  a  year 
after  the  peace,  and  before  any  serious  controver- 
sies, it  indicates  pretty  clearly  the  insincerity  of  the 
British  Government  in  regard  to  their  treaty  obli- 
gations to  quit  the  post. 

Governor  Hay  died  the  same  summer,  having 
had  no  time  to  make  any  mark  on  the  settlement. 
His  character  was  respected.  He  left  a  family 
of  three  sons,  one  of  whom,  Henry  Hay,  be- 
came an  officer  in  the  British  Army,  and  was 
stationed  at  Detroit  in  the  last  British  com- 
mand. The  writer  was  many  years  ago  informed, 
by  a  family  connection  of  Governor  Hay,  that  his 
remains  were  first  buried  behind  and  near  the 
Chateau  or  Governor's  House,  on  the  corner  of 
Jefferson  Avenue  and  Griswold  Street,  and  after- 
wards removed  by  the  informant  to  the  new  ceme- 
tery, established  in  1827,  and  placed  in  the  Catholic 
portion  of  that  ground.  That  cemetery  has  now 
been  vacated,  and  probably  there  has  been  another 
removal. 


Chap.  VIII.]  DEPARTURE  OP  THE  MORAVIANS.  187 

Major  William  Ancrum  succeeded  to  the  com- 
mand. By  this  time  the  Moravian  town  had  become 
a  neat  and  pleasant  village,  well  laid  out  and  sub- 
stantially built,  with  considerable  clearings.  The 
Chippewas,  however,  were  getting  tired  of  agri- 
cultural neighbors,  and  the  settlers  determined  to 
move  to  some  other  place.  They  went  from  New 
Gnadenhutten  to  the  south  side  of  Lake  Erie, 
whence,  in  1 790,  a  large  number  moved  over  into 
Upper  Canada,  and  settled  on  the  Thames  River, 
near  the  battlefield  where  Harrison  defeated  Proc- 
tor, in  181 3.  Richard  Connor  and  his  family  re- 
mained behind,  and  kept  their  farm.  His  sons, 
Henry,  William  and  James,  became  prominent 
citizens.  Henry  Connor  was  a  noted  interpreter, 
(known  as  Wabishkindibe,  or  White  Hair,)  in 
whom  Indians  and  whites  placed  implicit  confidence, 
which  he  fully  deserved.  He  was  a  very  upright 
man. 

In  1788,  Ancrum  and  John  Askin,  who  had  been 
kind  to  the  missionaries,  and  who  claimed  to  have 
purchased  out  their  rights  for  a  sufficient  considera- 
tion, obtained  from  the  Chippewas  a  grant  of 
24,000  acres,  including  the  Moravian  town  and  a 
large  tract  besides.  Askin  subsequently  testified 
that  there  were  more  than  twenty  houses  and  their 
outbuildings,  and  that  the  Moravian  road  had  been 
built  by  himself  and  Ancrum,  with  some  help  from 
the  Moravian  Indians.  Askin  and  his  son,  with 
one  John  Cornwall,  obtained  also  a  Chippewa 
grant   of  twenty-four   miles    long    by  two    leagues 


188  REMOVAL  OF   FORT   MACKINAW.  [Chap.  VIIl. 

wide,  including  that  road,  and  a  league  in  breadth 
on  each  side  of  it.  These  grants  were  made  after 
the  treaty  of  1783,  and  were  in  violation  of  the 
British  and  American  laws,  and  were  disallowed. 
Connor  and  some  neighbors  were  confirmed  in  their 
claims  to  single  farm  holdings,  as  actual  settlers. 

'  After  Patrick  Sinclair  went  to  Mackinaw,  and 
toward  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  he  made  prepa- 
rations for  removing  the  fort  from  the  main  land  to 
the  Island  of  Michilimackinac,  for  which  he  obtained 
the  consent  of  the  tribe  of  Chippewas  in  occu- 
pancy.    The  new  fort  was  occupied  in  1783. 

By  the  preliminary  treaty  of  peace  of  Novem- 
ber 30,  1 78 2,  it  was  unconditionally  agreed  that 
"  His  Britannic  Majesty  shall,  with  all  convenient 
speed,  and  without  causing  any  destruction,  or  car- 
rying away  any  negroes,  or  other  property  of  the 
American  inhabitants,  withdraw  all  his  armies,  gar- 
risons and  fleets  from  the  said  United  States ;  and 
from  every  part,  place  and  harbor  within  the  same  ; 
leaving  in  all  fortifications  the  American  artillery 
that  may  be  therein ;  and  shall  also  order  and 
cause  all  archives,  records,  deeds  and  papers  be- 
longing to  any  of  the  said  States,  or  their  citizens, 
which  in  the  course  of  the  war  may  have  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  his  officers,  to* be  forthwith  restored 
and  delivered  to  the  proper  States  and  persons  to 
whom  they  belong."  And  by  further  articles  it 
was,  January  20,  1783,  agreed  that  in  all  places 
without  exception,  (unless  when  a  shorter  term  was 
specified,)  five  months  should  be  the  utmost  term  of 


Chap.  VIII. J  FORTS   RETAINED   BY   THE  BRITISH. 


189 


hostilities,  or  for  the  validity  of  hostile  acts.  Notice 
was  received  in  Detroit  in  May,  1783,  if  not  earlier. 
The  final  treaty  of  September,  1783,  recognized 
and  adopted  the  preceding  action  from  its  original 
date. 

General  Washington  was  persuaded,  and  de- 
clared from  the  first,  that  the  British  Government 
were  not  acting  in  good  faith  in  this  matter.  In 
August,  1783,  when  Baron  Steuben  was  sent  to 
Governor  General  Haldimand  to  demand  posses- 
sion of  the  western  forts,  he  was  not  only  refused, 
but  was  not  even  permitted  to  visit  them  ;  and  the 
Governor  declined  in  any  way  to  facilitate  or  ex- 
pedite the  business.  His  course  towards  Steuben 
was  reported  by  the  latter  as  uncivil.  He  wrote  to 
General  Washington  a  letter,  respectful  in  form,  in 
which  he  excused  himself  for  the  refusal  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  received  no  orders  from  His 
Majesty.  New  York  was  evacuated  on  the  25th 
of  November,  1783,  and  the  Continental  Army  was 
disbanded.  Great  Britain  never  notified  the 
Governor  of  Canada,  or  any  one  else,  to  give  up 
the  western  posts,  and  they  were  retained,  in  spite 
of  protests  and  remonstrances,  until  the  breaking 
out  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  prospect  of 
further  wars,  made  it  expedient  to  surrender  them. 
But  during  nearly  all  this  period,  and  especially 
from  1786,  the  emissaries  of  Great  Britain  were 
busy  in  keeping  up  a  hostile  feeling  among  the 
Indians  in  the  Northwest  against  the  Americans. 

There  were,  in  1786,  and  thereafter,  some  mutual 


190 


VIOLATION  OF  TREATY.  [Chap.  VIII. 


grounds  of  complaint  for  alleged  violations  of  the 
treaty,  but  none  in  1783,  '84  or  '85,  that  were  set 
up  as  solid  pretexts  for  retaining  the  posts.  There 
can  be  no  reason  to  doubt  the  conclusion  of  General 
Washington,  that  the  mother  country  meant  to 
speculate  on  dissolution,  and  to  retain  the  unsettled 
country  and  western  forts  if  she  could.  In  1 784,  it 
would  seem,  however,  that  the  Canadian  Governor 
may  possibly  have  expected  to  be  compelled  to 
comply  with  our  demands  ;  as  he  removed  the  pub- 
lic records  from  Detroit  to  Quebec,  where  they 
were  retained  until  Lord  Dorchester,  in  1789,  sent 
out  Judge  Powell  to  establish  a  court.  At  this  lat- 
ter period,  it  seems  to  have  been  assumed  that  the 
United  States  would  be  compelled  to  submit  to 
losing  the  posts.  That  removal  of  records  was  in 
direct  violation  of  the  treaty,  and  the  records  so 
removed  were  never  put  in  American  custody  until 
the  present  decade,  when  they  were  partially  res- 
tored, (as  far  as  found,)  by  order  of  Her  Majesty's 
Government.  The  responsibility  of  the  British 
authorities  for  the  intentional  and  unprovoked  re- 
tention of  the  posts  does  not  rest  on  surmise.  On 
nearly  every  occasion  when  attempts  were  made  to 
treat  with  the  Indians,  they  represented  they  could 
not  act  without  the  consent  of  the  Detroit  Com- 
mandant. When  Brant  went  to  England,  after  the 
formation  of  his  confederacy  in  1785,  he  asked  an 
explicit  assurance  that  the  British  would  stand  by 
him,  which  Lord  Sidney,  the  Colonial  Secretary, 
evaded,  but  did  not  discourage.     John  Johnson,  the 


Chap.  VIII.]  BRITISH  AND  INDIAN   DEALINGS.  191 

Indian  Superintendent,  on  his  return,  gave  him  that 
assurance  in  writing,  and  impressed  upon  him  very 
strongly  not  to  allow  the  Americans  to  come  into 
the  country,  or  to  approach  the  posts,  saying:  "It 
is  for  your  sakes,  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  that  we 
hold  them."  *  *  "By  supporting  them,  you  encourage 
us  to  hold  them,  and  encourage  the  new  settlements, 
already  considerable,  and  every  day  increasing 
by  numbers  coming  in,  who  find  they  cannot  live  in 
the  States."  Lord  Dorchester  was  more  explicit, 
and  speaking  through  Captain  Mathews,  whom  he 
sent  to  command  at  Detroit,  he  expresses  regret 
that  the  Indians  have  consented  to  let  the  Ameri- 
cans make  a  road  to  Niagara,  but,  notwithstanding 
this  blameworthy  conduct,  the  Indians  shall  never- 
theless have  their  presents,  as  a  mark  of  approba- 
tion of  their  former  conduct ;  and  then  proceeds  : 
"  In  future  his  lordship  wishes  them  to  act  as  is  best 
for  their  interests.  He  cannot  begin  a  war  with 
the  Americans  because  some  of  their  people  en- 
croach and  make  depredations  upon  parts  of  the 
Indian  country ;  but  they  must  see  it  is  his  lord- 
ship's intention  to  defend  the  posts,  and  that  while 
these  are  preserved,  the  Indians  must  find  great 
security  therefrom,  and  consequently  the  Americans 
greater  difficulty  in  taking  possession  of  their 
lands.  But  should  they  once  become  masters  of 
the  posts,  they  will  surround  the  Indians,  and  ac- 
complish their  purpose  with  little  trouble."  *  *  *  u  In 
your  letter  to  me,  you  seem  apprehensive  that  the 
English   are    not  very   anxious  about  the    defence 


192  SCHEMES  TO   RETAIN   MICHIGAN.  [Chap.  VIII. 

of  the  posts.  You  will  soon  be  satisfied  that 
they  have  nothing  more  at  heart,  provided  that 
it  continues  to  be  the  wish  of  the  Indians, 
and  that  they  remain  firm  in  doing  their  part 
of  the  business,  by  preventing  the  Americans 
from  coming  into  their  country,  and  conse- 
quently from  marching  to  the  posts.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  the  Indians  think  it  more  for  their 
interest  that  the  Americans  should  have  possession 
of  the  posts,  and  be  established  in  their  country, 
they  ought  to  declare  it,  that  the  English  need  no 
longer  be  put  to  the  vast  and  unnecessary  expense 
and  inconvenience  of  keeping  posts,  the  chief 
object  of  which  is  to  protect  their  Indian  allies,  and 
the  loyalists  who  have  suffered  with  them.1 

The  proofs  are  abundant  that  the  British 
depended  on  the  Indians  to  keep  the  Americans 
from  approaching  the  forts  to  get  possession,  and 
that  this  was  not  done  for  any  claims  of  violated 
treaty,  but  because  they  desired  to  retain  the 
western  country  and  its  trade  for  their  own  pur- 
poses. 

In  1 784,  as  before  mentioned,  a  new  lieutenant 
governor  was  sent  out  to  Detroit,  and  in  1789  it 
was  brought  under  partial  civil  government. 
This  was  also,  if  we  may  credit  the  information 
received  from  our  diplomatic  agents  in  England, 
in  pursuance  of  a  definite  plan  whereby  Lord 
Dorchester  was  vested  with  enlarged  powers. 

1  Stone's  Brant,  iii.,  271. 


Chat.  VIII.  1  CANADA  DIVIDED. 


193 


During  the  period  of  unlawful  possession,  there 
was  apparently  no  restraint  put  on  the  acquisition 
of  Indian  grants,  and,  unless  the  chiefs  were 
ubiquitous,  it  appears  in  some  cases  as  if  no  par- 
ticular care  was  taken  to  be  sure  of  their  identity. 
Congress  had  at  once,  upon  the  peace,  prohibited 
any  such  purchases. 

Very  few  facts  of  local  interest  are  noted 
within  the  next  few  years.  The  Ordinance  of 
1787,  which  furnished  a  wise  constitution  for  the 
territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  did  not  become 
practically  operative  in  this  region  until  the 
Americans  gained  possession.  Before  that  time, 
although  no  laws  passed  after  the  treaty  could 
attach  except  for  the  time  being,  yet,  so  long  as 
the  country  was  held  by  Great  Britain,  all  trans- 
actions were  governed  by  the  law  of  the  pos- 
sessors. 

In  1792,  Quebec  was  divided  into  Upper  and 
Lower  Canada ;  and  Colonel  John  Graves  Simcoe 
was  made  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Upper  Canada, 
the  Governorship  General  covering  both  divisions. 
The  Quebec  Act,  so  far  as  it  applied  to  Upper 
Canada,  was  repealed,  as  well  as  all  legislation 
under  it  abrogated.  Upper  Canada  was  made  a 
common  law  country,  and  trial  by  jury  was  intro- 
duced in  both  civil  and  criminal  cases. 

Simcoe,     who     had     commanded     during     the 
Revolution   the    Queen's    Rangers,    a    regiment   of 
American    tories,     first     raised     by     Rogers,    and 
13 


194  BORDER   DIFFICULTIES.  [Chap.  VIII. 

somewhat  noted  for  their  cruelties,  took  no  pains 
to  conceal  his  sentiments.  The  Upper  Canada 
Legislature  established  permanent  courts  in  the 
regular  way  at  Detroit  and  Mackinaw,  as  posts 
of  the  Province.  In  1789,  provision  was  made 
for  granting  lands  in  the  Province  to  American 
refugees,  and  the  region  lying  east  of  the  Detroit 
River  and  north  of  Lake  Erie  was  largely 
settled  by  Dutch  tories  from  New  York.  The 
result  was  to  excite  among  the  Americans  who 
afterwards  settled  in  Michigan  a  fierce  animosity 
against  that  class  of  their  neighbors,  which  was 
of  long  standing.  In  regard  to  the  other  British 
people,  the  feeling  was  more  kindly,  except  as  to 
the  Indian  agents  and  emissaries,  who  were  never 
forgiven  for  their  share  in  the  massacres  of  the 
Americans. 

The  results  of  St.  Clair's  disastrous  defeat  in  1 791 
rendered  it  more  difficult  to  treat  with  the  Indians, 
and  their  depredations  were  multiplied.  It  became 
evident  that,  unless  some  peaceable  arrangement 
could  be  made,  the  American  people  would  be 
obliged  to  resort  to  effectual  measures  to  put  an 
end  to  these  scenes.  The  western  people  had 
desired  again  and  again  to  be  allowed  to  take  mat- 
ters into  their  own  hands.  But  in  this  troubled 
period  the  Governor  General,  Lord  Dorchester, 
and  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  Simcoe,  went 
great  lengths  in  urging  on  the  Indians,  and 
both  evidently  believed  that  the  time  was  at 
hand   when   Great  Britain  would  regain  the  whole 


Chap.  VIII.]  WAYNE'S   CAMPAIGN. 


195 


Indian  country.  Negotiations  with  the  Indians 
having  failed,  General  Wayne  began  his  effective 
campaigns.  Simcoe  not  only  favored  the  sav- 
ages, but  built  a  fort  in  1794  at  the  Maumee 
Rapids,  and  garrisoned  it  with  regular  British 
troops.  Wayne  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  in 
August,  and  on  the  20th  defeated  the  Indians  and 
their  allies,  driving  them  under  range  of  the 
guns  of  the  fort,  and  destroying  Colonel  McKee's 
stores,  and  everything  else  of  value  up  to  its  very 
walls.  The  post  commander  took  no  part  in  the 
battle,  and  the  Indians  were  very  much  incensed  at 
such  cold  support.  Wayne  could  not,  under  his 
orders,  attack  the  fort,  unless  assailed,  and  the 
British  officer  in  charge  had  similar  orders.  Gener- 
al Wayne  went  as  far  as  he  could  to  induce  that 
gentleman  to  attack  him,  but  without  effect.  The 
Indians  were,  however,  aided  in  the  fight  by  a  body 
of  Canadian  militia,  under  Colonel  Baby  ;  and  Sim- 
cpe,  McKee,  Elliott  and  Girty  were  not  far  off.  In 
September  these  four  persons  held  a  council  at 
Maiden  to  prevent  a  peace,  and  to  induce  the 
Indians  to  cede  their  lands  to  the  British  ;  promis- 
ing that  the  latter  could  then  guarantee  their  pos- 
session, and  join  in  a  general  attack  which  would 
sweep  the  country  clean  of  Americans.  Although 
this  was  aided  by  presents,  and  other  inducements, 
the  Indians  were  divided,  and  many  of  them  com- 
plained that  the  British  had  urged  them  on  into 
ruinous  wars,  and  had  not  helped  them. 

January  29th,  1795,  the  tribes  made  a  prelimin- 


196 


TREATY  OF  GREENVILLE.    INDIAN  GRANTS.      [Chap.  VIII. 


ary  treaty  of  peace  at  Greenville,  with  General 
Wayne.  They  appointed  the  next  June,  at  the 
same  place,  for  the  final  treaty.  The  conferences 
lasted  through  July,  all  of  the  chiefs  giving  and 
receiving  full  explanations,  and  laying  the  previous 
hostilities  to  the  encouragement  of  the  British 
authorities.  The  treaty  was  signed  on  the  third  of 
August. 

In  November,  1 794,  a  treaty  had  been  executed 
between  Mr.  Jay,  as  American  Minister,  and  the 
British  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  Lord  Gren- 
ville,  whereby  it  was  agreed  the  posts  should  be 
given  up  on  or  before  June  1,  1796.  News  of  this 
reached  the  country  in  due  time,  and  at  once  a  last 
effort  was  made  to  render  it  abortive.  In  1783,  the 
Northwest  Fur  Company  had  been  organized  to 
control  the  fur  trade,  not  reached  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  the  Detroit  traders  were  all 
interested  in  keeping  the  country,  as  far  as  possible, 
unsettled.  All  of  Michigan  away  from  the  Detroit 
River  and  the  Island  of  Mackinaw,  was  a  wilderness, 
and  so  was  the  adjacent  belt  of  country  in  northern 
Ohio  and  Indiana.  Between  the  treaties  of  January 
and  August,  grants,  or  pretended  grants,  were 
obtained  to  Jonathan  Schiefflin,  Jacobus  Visgar, 
Richard  Pattinson,  Robert  Innis,  Alexander  Henry, 
John  Askin  Senior,  John  Askin  Junior,  Robert  Mc- 
Nifif,  William  Robertson,  Israel  Ruland,  and  John 
Dodemead,  of  various  parcels  of  land,  covering  the 
whole  country  from  the  Cuyahoga  River  westward 
to  about  the  centre  line  of  Michigan,  and  northward 


Chap.  VIII.]       AMERICAN  POSSESSION.     WAYNE  DIES. 


197 


to  Saginaw  Bay,  including  all  the  land  that  was  then 
supposed  possibly  available  for  settlement  for  ages. 

The  time  at  last  came  for  taking  possession. 
The  British  garrison  evacuated  the  fort  some  time 
before  the  Americans  arrived,  and  left  it  in  very  bad 
condition,  with  the  wells  filled  up  with  rubbish,  and 
with  other  mischief  to  the  premises. 

Genera]  Wayne  came  with  Winthrop  Sargent, 
the  Secretary  and  acting  Governor  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  and  took  possession  of  the  fort,  putting 
Captain  Porter  in  command.  Mackinaw  was  also 
garrisoned.  On  the  first  of  July,  1 796,  Michigan, 
for  the  first  time,  became  an  American  possession. 

On  his  return  from  this  duty,  General  Wayne 
started  eastward,  to  deal  with  charges  made  against 
him  by  General  Wilkinson,. who  had  acted  a  very 
ungenerous  part  in  striving  to  belittle  the  exploits 
of  an  officer  whose  fame  has  been  amply  vindicated 
by  time,  and  with  whom  now  his  assailant's  reputa- 
tion will  bear  no  comparison.  No  one  ever  had  a 
stronger  hold  on  the  administration  of  the  western 
people  than  Mad  Anthony,  and  his  memory  has  not 
faded. 

The  brave  soldier,  who  had  escaped  the  perils  of 
many  battles,  was  seized  on  his  way  to  Erie  with  a 
violent  attack  of  gout  which  proved  speedily  fatal. 
He  was  buried  at  Erie.  Many  years  afterwards, 
when  his  son  disinterred  the  remains  to  remove 
them  to  a  place  among  his  kindred,  the  body  was 
found  uncorrupted  and  sound  as  if  it  had  been 
embalmed.1 

1  Burnet. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

MICHIGAN     UNDER     THE     NORTHWEST     TERRITORY     AND 

INDIANA. 

The  peninsula  of  Michigan  was  not  allowed  to 
pass  into  American  hands  without  a  struggle.  It 
was  not  until  two  days  after  the  time  fixed  by 
Jay's  Treaty  for  surrendering  the  western  posts, 
that  the  Legislature  of  Upper  Canada  reluctantly 
passed  an  act  to  discontinue  holding  courts  at 
Detroit  and  Mackinaw. 

In  the  summer  of  1795,  when  it  became  cer- 
tain that  the  execution  of  the  Treaty  of  Green- 
ville would  remove  the  last  obstacle  to  the  posses- 
sion of  the  country  by  the  Americans,  a  plan  was 
formed  by  several  merchants  residing  in  Detroit 
and  in  the  Parish  of  Assumption  in  Canada  across 
the  river,  to  secure  the  control  of  the  Territory, 
by  purchasing  all  the  land.  To  do  this  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of 
congressmen  the  idea  that  no  reliance  could  be 
placed  on  the  peaceable  disposition  of  the  Indians, 
and  that  the  Detroit^  merchants  were  the  only 
persons  that  could  control  them.  Where  such 
persuasion  failed  to  produce  conviction,  a  gigantic 


Chap.  IX.]  CONSPIRACY  TO  REGAIN  MICHIGAN.  199 

system  of  bribery  was  to  be  used  to  accomplish 
the  desired  end.  A  company,  the  known  western 
members  of  which  were  the  two  Askins,  Jonathan 
Schiefflin,  William  and  David  Robertson,  Robert 
Innis  and  Richard  Pattinson,  was  organized,  with 
a  proposed  stock  of  forty-one  shares,  of  which 
five  were  for  the  Detroit  partners,  six  allotted  to 
Ebenezer  Allen,  of  Vermont,  and  his  eastern 
associates,  six  to  one  Robert  Randall,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  his  associates,  and  the  remaining 
twenty-four  to  members  of  Congress,  with  the 
understanding  that  they  could  take  money  instead, 
if  they  preferred  it.  Ebenezer  Allen  and  Charles 
Whitney,  of  Vermont,  and  Robert  Randall,  of 
Philadelphia,  were  to  deal  with  the  members. 
Randall  and  Whitney  began  the  task,  and 
approached  several  representatives.  They  desired 
to  obtain  from  Congress  a  grant  of  the  whole 
Lower  Peninsula  of  Michigan,  for  which  they 
offered  to  pay  half  a  million  of  dollars,  or,  if  need 
be,  a  million,  and  to  assume  the  risk  of  getting 
up  the  Indian  title. 

Among  others  applied  to  were  Theodore 
Sedgwick,  William  Smith  of  South  Carolina,  Mr. 
Murray  of  Maryland,  William  B.  Giles  of  Virginia, 
and  Daniel  Buck  of  Vermont.  They  conferred 
with  the  President,  and  by  concert  all  avoided 
exciting  the  suspicion  of  the  agents,  and  managed 
to  get  precise  information  of  the  whole  extent 
and  details  of  the  scheme.  Mr.  Sedgwick  was 
entrusted  with  the  memorial,  to  present  it  to  the 
House. 


200 


RANDALL  ANt>  WHITNEY  ARRESTED.  [Chap.  IX. 


On  the  28th  day  of  December,  1795,  these 
gentlemen,  after  the  petition  had  been  presented 
and  referred,  arose  in  their  places  and  divulged 
the  whole  matter  to  Congress.  Randall  and 
Whitney,  who  were  the  only  ones  that  had 
approached  either  of  them,  were  arrested,  and 
ordered  to  answer  for  contempt.  Whitney,  who 
does  not  appear  to  have  done  much,  answered 
fully  and  was  finally  discharged.  Randall  was 
more  pugnacious,  and  was  punished  by  imprison- 
ment. He  claimed  to  have  obtained  pledges 
from  several  members,  who  took  no  part  in  expos- 
ing him.  The  House,  with  a  very  ill-judged 
squeamishness,  objected  to  having  names  of  mem- 
bers given,  and  questions  calling  for  them  were 
ruled  out.  It  is  sadly  to  be  feared  that  it  was 
not  impossible,  in  those  days,  for  members  of 
Congress  to  be  attracted  by  an  operation  with  a 
certainty  of  great  profit  in   it. 

Of  course,  after  this  exposure,  the  scheme 
failed.  The  Indian  purchases  before  referred  to, 
which  would  have  been  legalized  if  Congress  had 
made  this  sale,  were  no  doubt  concocted  with  a 
view  to  it.  That  it  was  not  designed  to  keep  the 
country  for  American  purposes,  will  appear  from 
the  fact  that,  under  Jay's  Treaty,  all  the  partners 
residing  on  the  American  side  of  Detroit  River 
made  their  election  in  writing  to  remain  British 
subjects ;  and  all  but  Schiefflin  afterwards  retired 
to  Canada. 

It    is    needless    to    speculate    on   the   probable 


Chap.  IX.J  BRITISH  ADHERENTS.  201 

results  of  the  success  of  such  a  scheme.  Michigan 
would  never  have  become  a  prosperous  American 
State,  and  the  whole  northwest  might  have  been 
a  British  Province.  No  part  of  the  country  was 
Americanized  for  a  long  time,  except  the  country 
immediately  depending  on  Detroit  and  Mackinaw. 
The  white  settlers  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and 
about  Green  Bay,  remained  attached  to  the  British 
interests,  and  raised  volunteers  to  aid  in  the 
capture  of  Mackinaw  in  the  war  of  1812.  Mack- 
inaw itself,  as  appears  from  the  State  Papers  of 
the  United  States,  was  infested  by  treasonable 
inhabitants,  who  were  never  adequately  dealt  with 
for  their  treachery,  beyond  receiving  a  good  share 
of  contempt  among  their  neighbors. 

How  Schiefflin  withdrew  from  his  election,  or 
how  he  became  rehabilitated  as  an  American 
citizen,  does  not  appear;  but  he  certainly  became 
one,  and,  not  many  years  after,  he  was  a  judge 
of  common  pleas  in  Detroit,  and  a  useful  delegate 
at  Chillicothe.  He  had  large  landed  possessions, 
and  failed  to  make  out  a  good  title  to  many 
more,  which  he  claimed  from  Indian  grants.  He 
was  a  favorite  among  the  Indians,  and  an  adopted 
member  of  some  of  the  tribes,  being  styled  in  a 
grant  from  the  Ottawa,  Chippewa  and  Potawa- 
tamie  tribes  as  "  our  adopted  brother  and  chief 
in  our  said  Nations,  by  the  names  of  Ottason 
and  Minawinima."1 

1  Ottason  (with  the  French  pronounciation  Atasson,)  signifies  a  store- 
keeper or  trader.  Minawinima,  a  foul  talker.  This  last  name  was  that  of 
a  chief  who  probably  exchanged  names  with  Schiefflin. — Vide  Baraga. 


202  SOCIAL  RELATIONS.  [Chap.  IX. 

He  subsequently  returned  to  his  old  home  in 
New  York,  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  In 
1797  he,  with  Jacobus  Visgar,  Richard  Pattinson 
and  Robert  Innis,  sold  their  Indian  title  to  the 
south-eastern  part  of  Michigan  to  William  S. 
Smith  of  New  York  City,  for  two  hundred 
thousand  pounds  York  currency,  or  half  a  million 
dollars,  taking  back  a  mortgage  (never  paid)  for 
the  entire  purchase  money.  If  any  further  ex- 
periments were  made  with  Congress,  they  were 
not  published,  and  the  speculation  failed. 

The  change  of  allegiance  made  no  change  in 
the  social  relations  of  most  of  the  citizens.  They 
had  been  old  associates  and  good  neighbors,  and 
had  no  personal  quarrels  over  it.  It  was  generally 
felt  that  in  the  main  the  course  of  the  British 
sympathizers  was  such  as  might  fairly  have  been 
expected  from  those  who  had  felt  no  political 
grievances,  and  it  was  also  known  that  the  British 
Ministry,  in  its  extreme  courses,  did  not  fairly 
represent  the  British  people,  from  whom  the  entire 
heritage  of  American  liberty  had  descended.  The 
tory  refugees  from  New  York  were  not,  however, 
looked  upon  with  much  complacency  by  the 
Americans ;  and  the  new  comers  from  the  Eastern 
States  were  not  much  better  received  by  the 
French,  who  had  a  vague  dread  of  being  talked 
out  of  their  farms  before  they  knew  it,  by  these 
glib-tongued  bargainers.  But  time,  and  the  enforced 
companionship  of  a  little  frontier  town,  soon 
smoothed     away    their     prejudices ;     and     Detroit 


Chap.  IX.] 


LEGAL  AFFAIRS.  203 


was,  in  its  early  days,  a  place  of  more  than  usual 
social  harmony. 

It  now  became  evident  that  the  policy  of  pre- 
venting settlements  had  produced  one  very  fortu- 
nate result.  The  amount  of  land  lawfully  owned  or 
claimed  by  private  persons  in  actual  occupancy,  was 
so  insignificant,  that  the  change  from  French  to 
English,  and  from  English  to  American  rule,  was 
not  felt  in  our  legal  relations.  As  there  had  never 
been  any  law  regularly  administered,  unless  for  a 
very  short  time,  and  as,  under  the  Quebec  Act,  wills 
could  be  made  according  to  either  English  or 
French  law,  no  questions  were  likely  to  arise  except 
as  to  inheritances ;  and  here  the  American  law  was 
more  like  the  French  than  the  English,  as  it  did  not 
devolve  estates  by  primogeniture.  It  was  very 
common  for  French  land-owners  to  make  disposition 
of  their  estates  among  their  children,  which  became 
operative  before  their  own  decease.  The  ordinance 
of  1787,  which  attached  when  the  cession  was  com- 
plete, produced  no  shock  whatever ;  as  the  English 
traders  had  always  followed  the  common  law,  which 
was  the  basis  of  all  proceedings  under  the  Ordi- 
nance. 

As  the  statutes  of  Upper  Canada  had  all  been 
passed  during  the  usurpation,  they  required  no 
repeal  ;  and,  although  some  rights  had  grown  up 
under  them,  they  were  not  important  legally,  and 
are  of  small  consequence  historically,  unless,  per- 
haps, in  relation  to  slavery.  The  Ordinance  of 
1787    had    declared    that    "  there    shall     neither  be 


204  PROVINCIAL  LEGISLATION.  [CHAr.  IX. 

slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  Terri- 
tory, otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crime, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted/' 
Not  only  had  slavery  always  existed  in  Canada,  but, 
in  1790,  an  Act  of  Parliament  authorized  the  Gov- 
ernor to  grant  licenses  to  import  negroes  and  other 
slaves  into  the  Province.  A  very  early  Act  of  the 
Legislature  of  Upper  Canada  prohibited  further 
importations,  and  provided  for  the  emancipation  of 
all  slave  children  thereafter  born,  on  reaching  the 
age  of  twenty-five.  An  Act  was  also  passed  for 
greater  caution,  and  not  from  any  real  difficulty, 
whereby  all  marriages  solemnized  theretofore  by 
magistrates,  commanders  of  posts,  adjutants  or 
surgeons,  acting  as  chaplains,  were  legalized.  By 
the  remarks  of  some  of  the  advocates  as  well  as  of 
the  opponents  of  the  Quebec  Bill,  it  appears  that 
some  doubts  arose  originally  in  regard  to  the  legal 
powers  of  the  clergy  and  others  in  various  cases, 
and  there  were  times  when  there  were  neither  Pro- 
testant nor  Catholic  ministers  in  some  of  the  settle- 
ments.  When  Father  Richard  arrived  at  Detroit,  in 
1798,  he  celebrated  with  the  rites  of  the  church 
many  marriages  that  had  previously  been  performed 
civilly.  No  other  provincial  legislation  requires 
reference. 

The  only  provisions  of  Jay's  Treaty,  under  which 
litigation  subsequently  arose,  were  Article  2, 
which  protected  all  traders  and  others  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  their  property  of  every  kind,  and  which 
allowed  them    though    resident  to   retain  their  old 


Chap.  IX.]  WAYNE  COUNTY. 


205 


allegiance,  by  declaring  their  intention  within  a  year 
after  the  evacuation  of  the  posts ;  and  Article  9, 
which  allowed  existing  estates  to  be  transferred, 
or  to  descend,  without  reference  to  alienage. 

On  the  1 8th  of  August,  1 796,  Winthrop  Sargent, 
acting  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  by 
Letters  Patent  under  the  Great  Seal,  set  apart  the 
new  County  of  Wayne.  Its  boundaries  extended 
from  the  Cuyahoga  River  westward  about  to  the 
dividing  line  now  existing  between  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  and  thence  northward  to  the  national 
boundary  line,  including  all  of  the  subsequent 
Territory  of  Michigan,  and  a  portion  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana.  The  county  seat  was  Detroit,  which  is 
still  the  county  seat  of  the  County  of  Wayne, 
much  shrunken  from  those  generous  dimensions. 
•  At  or  about  the  same  time  Governor  Sargent 
organized  the  militia,  and  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  for  Wayne  County,  which  was,  like  the 
former  Canadian  court  of  the  same  name,  a 
court  of  record  of  extensive  jurisdiction,  presided 
over  by  lay  judges,  who  were  business  men 
chosen  for  their  probity  and  intelligence.  Louis 
Beaufait  was  first  Senior  Justice,  and  James  May, 
Charles  Girardin,  Patrick  McNifT  and  Nathan 
Williams,  were  early  Justices.  The  appointments 
to  all  judicial  orifices  were  made  by  the  Executive. 
There  was  one  session  at  Detroit  each  year,  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory.  Those 
judges  were  appointed  by  the  President  and 
Senate,    and,    at    the    time    of  the  organization    of 


206  COURTS.     PUBLIC  LANDS.  [Chap.  IX. 

Wayne  County,  were  Rufus  Putnam,  John  Cleves 
Symmes,  and  George  Turner.  Putnam  resigned 
the  same  year,  and  was  succeeded  by  Joseph 
Gillman.  Turner  had  left  the  Territory  in  the 
spring  of  1796,  and  resigned  while  absent.  Return 
J.  Meigs  was  appointed  to  succeed  him  in  1798. 
By  the  laws  then  in  force  one  judge  could  hold 
the  court.  Judge  Symmes  attended  every  term 
that  was  held  in  Detroit,  until  Michigan  was 
separated  from  Ohio. 

As  the  Ordinance  of  1787  was  the  constitution 
of  the  whole  northwest,  it  demands  some  refer- 
ence, although  familiar  to  the  readers  of  American 
history.  After  the  peace  of  1 783,  it  became  a 
serious  question  what  to  do  with  the  lands  be- 
longing to  the  United  States,  and  not  within  any 
single  State.  All  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin, 
and  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,,  were  un- 
questionably treaty  acquisitions ;  while  the  re- 
mainder of  the  Northwest  Territory  was  claimed 
by  conflicting  States.  The  Articles  of  Confeder- 
ation did  not  provide  for  such  an  emergency 
expressly,  and  the  government  of  the  confeder- 
ation was  not  adapted  for  ordinary  legislation, 
having  neither  executive  nor  judiciary. 

The  States  having  pretensions  over  the  country 
finally  made  cessions  of  it,  upon  jealously  drawn 
conditions,  not  for  their  own  benefit,  but  for  that 
of  the  people  of  the  Territory.  The  whole  trans- 
action was  more  in  the  nature  of  a  supplementary 
treaty,    or    convention,    than    of    a   law ;    and    the 


Chap.  IX.]  ORDINANCE  OF  'EIGHTY-SEVEN.  207 

Ordinance  of  1787,  if  it  is  regarded  as  a  statute, 
is  the  only  instrument  of  that  nature  ever  passed 
by  the  Congress  of  the  confederation.  It  was 
not,  however,  properly  a  statute ;  for  all  public 
statutes  are  subject  to  repeal.  This  instrument 
was  not  subject  to  be  altered  in  its  most  im- 
portant provisions,  although  as  to  others  it  prob- 
ably was  liable  to  alteration.  It  is  somewhat 
singular  that,  in  adopting  a  large  stream  for  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  Territory,  Virginia,  in- 
stead of  making  the  middle  thread  of  the  Ohio 
River  the  dividing  line,  retained  jurisdiction  over 
all  the  stream. 

This  important  Act  of  State,  adopted  on  the 
13th  day  of  July,  1787,  may  most  properly  be 
called  a  constitution;  since  it  vested  the  whole 
original  legislative  authority  in  other  bodies  than 
Congress,  and  in  some  particulars  was  meant  to 
operate  as  a  permanent  compact  between  the 
United  States  and  the  people  of  the  Territory. 
Its  general  features  were  as  follows :  It  established 
temporary  rules  of  descent  and  succession,  and  for 
the  manner  of  disposing  of  property  inter  vivos 
and  by  will.  A  governor  was  to  be  appointed 
from  time  to  time  by  Congress,  for  terms  of  three 
years,  but  removable.  A  secretary  was  to  hold 
for  four  years  unless  removed,  and  three  judges 
were  to  hold  during  good  behavior.  A  majority 
of  the  governor  and  judges  were  to  adopt  from 
the  States  such  laws  as  were  suited  to  the  Terri- 
tory,   to    be    in    force    till    disapproved    by    Con- 


208  ORDINANCE  OF  'EIGHTY-SEVEN.  TChat.  IX- 

gress,  or  altered  by  the  future  Legislature.  The 
Board  afterwards  obtained  the  power  of  alteration 
and  repeal.  The  Governor  made  all  appointments 
except  judges  and  secretary,  (who  were  appointed 
by  Congress,)  and  could  lay  out  counties  and 
townships,  and  appoint  magistrates  and  other  civil 
as  well  as  military  officers,  at  his  pleasure.  In 
this  he  had  the  amplest  prerogative.  When  the 
popular  assembly  should  be  organized,  all  this  was 
subject  to  their  legislative  control.  But  Congress 
retained  no  powers  of  immediate  legislation  for 
itself. 

As  soon  as  there  should  be  five  thousand  free 
male  inhabitants,  an  assembly  was  to  be  elected, 
with  one  member  for  each  five  hundred  free  male 
inhabitants,  until  the  assembly  should  contain 
twenty-five  members,  when  the  number  was  to  be 
fixed  by  them.  An  upper  house  or  council,  of  five 
members,  was  to  be  selected  by  Congress,  from 
ten  persons  nominated  by  the  representatives. 
Representatives  were  to  serve  two  years,  and  coun- 
cillors five.  The  Governor  had  an  absolute  veto, 
with  power  to  assemble,  prorogue,  and  dissolve 
the  Legislature. 

Six  articles  were  declared  to  be  articles  of  com- 
pact between  the  original  States  and  the  people 
and  States  of  the  Territory,  to  forever  remain  un- 
alterable, unless  by  common  consent.  These  were, 
First,  Religious  toleration.  Second,  A  declaration 
or  bill  of  rights  and  liberties.  Third,  That  "reli- 
gion, morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary   to 


Chap.  IX.]  ORDINANCE  OF  'EIGHTY-SEVEN.  209 

good  government,  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  forever 
be  encouraged."  Also  that  the  Indians  should  be 
protected  in  their  rights  and  security,  and  fairly 
dealt  with.  Fourth,  Perpetual  union,  and  proper 
contribution  to  the  general  burdens ;  immunity 
from  taxation,  and  respect  for  United  States  lands 
and  titles  ;  equality  of  taxes  for  non-residents  ;  and 
free  use  of  ways  and  waters  for  citizens  of  other 
States.  Fifth,  That  not  less  than  three,  nor  more 
than  five,  States  should  be  formed  ;  —  if  three,  to 
be  divided  by  north  and  south  lines  from  points 
named  ;  if  four  or  five,  they  were  to  be  divided  by 
the  same  lines  running  north  and  up  to  an  east 
and  west  line  through  the  extreme  south  point  of 
Lake  Michigan  ;  and  all  north  of  that  line  was  to 
form  one  or  two  States,  as  Congress  should  de- 
termine. Each  State  had  assured  to  it  a  right  to 
be  admitted  into  the  Union,  as  soon  as  it  should 
contain  sixty  thousand  free  inhabitants.  Sixth, 
That  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude 
should  be  allowed  except  in  punishment  of  crime  ; 
but  fugitives  from  labor  should  be  subject  to 
reclamation. 

When  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
came  into  complete  operation,  in  1789,  one  of 
the  first  acts  of  Congress  adapted  the  ordinance 
to  it,  by  transferring  to  the  President  and  Senate 
the  powers  of  a  purely  executive  nature  which 
had  before  been  vested  in  Congress.  The  only- 
other  change  made  the  Secretary  acting  Governor, 
14 


210 


INDIAN   RESPECT   FOR   DIGNITIES.  [Chap.  IX. 


during     the     Governor's      absence,      removal      or 
resignation. 

One  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  held 
each  year  at  Detroit ;  and  Judge  Burnet  informs 
us  that  from  1796  until  1803,  when  the  separa- 
tion took  place,  neither  he,  Judge  Symmes,  npr 
Mr.  St.  Clair,  (who  was  the  Governor's  son  and 
attorney  general)  ever  missed  a  term.  He  gives 
a  lively  account  of  the  difficulties  and  hardships, 
as  well  as  amusing  incidents,  attending  the  long 
horseback  rides  from  Cincinnati  to  Detroit,  and 
to  the  other  counties.  Among  other  things,  he 
describes  a  curious  game  of  foot  ball  at  the  Au 
Glaize  village,  where  the  Shawnee  Blue  Jacket, 
and  Buckongahelas,  the  old  Delaware  chief,  resided, 
between  men  and  women,  in  which,  by  the 
prowess  of  a  gigantic  squaw,  the  game  was  decided 
for  the  women.  On  their  return  several  weeks 
after,  they  found  Blue  Jacket  had  obtained  a  large 
quantity  of  whiskey,  and  the  people  were  all 
drunk.  He  tells  with  much  humor  how  a  very 
ancient  squaw  insisted  on  preferring  Mr.  St. 
Clair  above  the  rest,  whom  she  scornfully  char- 
acterised as  "  milish,"  not  to  be  compared  to  the 
"  big  man  —  Governor's  son"  whom  she  honored 
with  a  profusion  of  drunken  motherly  kisses. 

Judge  Burnet,  (who  in  this  regard  speaks  from 
his  own  observation,  and  is  confirmed  by  his 
contemporaries,)  expresses  himself  very  strongly 
upon  the  wrongs  done  the  Indians,  in  not  pro- 
tecting   them    from    the  vices  of  the  whites,    until 


Chap.  IX.] 


DIAN   CHARACTER  211 


they  could  have  become  settled  down  in  peaceful 
industry.  He  says  distinctly  that  until  1795,  after 
the  Treaty  of  Greenville,  they  were  dignified  and 
independent  in  their  intercourse  with  the  whites, 
and  received  as  equals,  and  that  they  were  in  no 
respect  an  inferior  race  by  nature,  and  were  as 
capable  of  improvement  as  any  people.  History 
shows  that,  for  a  couple  of  centuries  after  the 
first  settlement  in  Canada,  the  Indian  tribes  were 
in  several  instances  the  only  farmers  in  the 
country,  and  supplied  the  whites.  In  Michigan, 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  their  villages  were  neat,  and 
their  lands  well  laid  out  and  well  tilled.  Those 
who  have  attended  Indian  councils  can  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  keenness  of  their  intellects,  and  the 
wonderful  accuracy  of  their  memories ;  and  such 
of  them  as  have  received  an  education  are  as 
well  advanced  by  their  training  as  any  people. 
If  white  men  were  compelled  to  live  as  nomads, 
and  hold  no  lands  as  private  homesteads,  all  the 
resources  of  education  and  civilization  would  be 
equally  thrown  away  upon  them.  The  cold  blooded 
policy  which  has  first  demoralized  the  Indians, 
and  then  refused  to  help  them  because  they  were 
demoralized,  is  a  disgrace  to  humanity. 

The  establishment  of  a  regular  course  of  justice 
opened  a  wide  field  of  litigation,  and  for  several 
years  the  court  business  at  Detroit  was  large  and 
lucrative.  The  British  and  other  travellers  who 
visited  the  country  in  1 796,  and  shortly  there- 
after, expressed  their  surprise  at  the  number  and 


212  SOCIAL  LIFE  AT   DETROIT.  [Chap.  IX. 

wealth  of  the  merchants,  and  the  extent  of  their 
business,  and  stated  that  all  kinds  of  articles  were 
nearly  as  cheap  in  Detroit  as  in  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  The  people  were  gay  and  pros- 
perous, and  indulged  as  freely  in  the  pomps  and 
vanities  of  dress  and  amusements  as  their  contem- 
poraries in  the  elegant  circles  of  the  east.  The 
truthtelling  inventories  of  the  estates  of  the  in- 
habitants who  had  done  with  the  world,  include 
plate  and  silks,  and  all  manner  of  luxuries,  as 
well  as  the  "  litres  de  noblesse^  which  had  ceased 
to  be  important  among  the  new  fledged  republi- 
cans. On  the  4th  of  June,  1800,  during  the  term 
of  court  at  Detroit,  the  court  and  bar,  and  all  the 
officers  who  could  be  spared  of  the  two  regiments 
quartered  at  the  fort,  with  a  host  of  citizens,  were 
invited  to  Sandwich  to  a  banquet  and  ball  in 
honor  of  the  King's  birthday ;  and  a  company  of 
between  four  and  five  hundred,  from  both  sides 
of  the  river,  enjoyed  a  pleasant  and  courteous 
intercourse.  The  next  day,  the  court  and  bar, 
with  others,  were  taken  on  a  Government  vessel 
to  Fort  Maiden,  (then  not  completed,)  and  after 
hospitable  treatment  proceeded  across  the  lake. 
The  magnates  of  the  fur  trade  had  not  lost  their 
Scottish  habits  of  conviviality ;  and  Judge  Burnet's 
stories  of  Angus  Mackintosh's  liberal  feasting  and 
wassailing  remind  one  of  Scott's  pictures  of  the 
same  period  in  the  land  of  their  origin. 

1  Many  Canadian  gentlemen  received  letters  of  nobility  for  services  in 
war  and  discovery.  In  making  up  the  inventories  of  estates  it  was  customary 
to  include  all  papers  and  titles.  Such  an  item  occurs  in  the  inventory  of 
Fontenay  Dequindre,  and  probably  in  many  more. 


Chap.  IX.]  DETROIT  DESCRIBED.  213 

As  there  are  not  many  printed  descriptions 
of  Detroit  belonging  to  the  period  of  the  first 
American  occupation,  some  extracts  from  the 
Letters  of  Isaac  Weld,1  an  Irish  gentleman  of 
subsequent  literary  prominence,  who  visited  this 
region  in  the  autumn  of  1796,  may  be  worth 
copying. 

"  The  houses  in  this  part  of  the  country  are 
all  built  in  a  similar  style  to  those  in  Lower 
Canada ;  the  lands  are  laid  out  and  cultivated 
also  similarly  to  those  in  the  lower  province ;  the 
manners  and  persons  of  the  inhabitants  are  the 
same.  French  is  the  predominant  language,  and 
the  traveller  may  fancy  for  a  moment,  if  he 
pleases,  that  he  has  been  wafted  by  enchantment 
back  again  into  the  neighborhood  of  Montreal  or 
Three  Rivers.  All  the  principal  posts  throughout 
the  western  country,  along  the  lakes,  the  Ohio, 
the  Illinois,  etc.,  were  established  by  the  French  ; 
but  except  at  Detroit  and  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  in  the  Illinois  country,  the  French  settlers 
have  become  so  blended  with  the  greater  number 
who  spoke  English,  that  their  language  has  every- 
where died  away. 

"  Detroit  contains  about  three  hundred  houses, 
and  is  the  largest  town  in  the  western  country. 
It    stands    contiguous    to   the  river,  on  the  top    of 

1  Mr.  Weld  spent  parts  of  the  years  1795,  1796  and  1797  in  America, 
and  much  of  his  time  was  passed  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a  good 
observer,  though  very  bitterly  prejudiced.  Mr  Ticknor  met  him  in  Ireland 
many  years  afterward,  and  he  then  assured  Mr.  T.  that  his  views  had 
become  changed. — 1  Ticknor 's  Btogtaphy,  />.  424. 


214  DETROIT. 


[CHAr.  IX. 


the  banks  which  are  here  about  twenty  feet  high. 
At  the  bottom  of  them  there  are  very  extensive 
wharfs  for  the  accommodation  of  the  shipping, 
built  of  wood,  similar  to  those  in  the  Atlantic 
sea-ports.  The  town  consists  of  several  streets 
that  run  parallel  to  the  river,  which  are  inter- 
sected by  others  at  right  angles.  They  are  all 
very  narrow,  and  not  being  paved,  dirty  in  the 
extreme  whenever  it  happens  to  rain ;  for  the 
accommodation  of  passengers,  however,  there  are 
footways  in  most  of  them,  formed  of  square  logs, 
laid  transversely  close  to  each  other.  The  town 
is  surrounded  by  a  strong  stockade,  through  which 
there  are  four  gates ;  two  of  them  open  to  the 
wharfs,  and  the  two  others  to  the  north  and 
south1  side  of  the  town  respectively.  The  gates 
are  defended  by  strong  block-houses,  and  on  the 
west  [north]  side  of  the  town  is  a  small  fort  in 
form  of  a  square,  with  bastions  at  the  angles. 
At  each  of  the  corners  of  this  fort  is  planted  a 
small  field-piece,  and  these  constitute  the  whole  of 
the  ordnance  at  present  in  the  place.  The  British 
kept  a  considerable  train  of  artillery  here,  but 
the  place  was  never  capable  of  holding  out  for 
any  length  of  time  against  a  regular  force ;  the 
fortifications,  indeed,  were  constructed  chiefly  as  a 
defence  against  the   Indians."2     P.  351. 

1  Mr.  Weld,  like  most  strangers,  mistook  the  points  of  the  compass, 
by,  failing  to  notice  the  bend  at  the  town,  which  fronts  southward  and 
not  eastward.     The  gates  were  at  the  east  and  west  ends. 

2  In  this  the  writer  is  in  error.  Major  Lernoult  constructed  this  fort 
during  the  American  Revolution,  to  defend  the  place  against  the  Americans. 


Chap.  IX.]  DETROIT.  215 

"  About  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit 

are  of  French  extraction,  and  the  greater    part  of 

the    inhabitants    of   the    settlements    on   the    river, 

both  above  and  below  the  town,  are  of  the    same 

description.       The  former  are   mostly    engaged    in 

trade,    and    they    all    appear    to    be    much    on    an 

equality.       Detroit  is  a  place  of  very  considerable 

trade ;    there    are    no    less    than    twelve    trading 

vessels  belonging  to  it,  brigs,  sloops  and  schooners, 

of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  tons    burthen    each." 

"  The    stores    and    shops    in    the    town    are    well 

furnished,  and  you  may  buy  fine  cloth,  linen,  etc., 

and  every  article  of  wearing  apparel,  as    good    in 

their  kind,  and  nearly  on  as  reasonable  terms,  as 

you     can     purchase     them     at     New      York      or 

Philadelphia. 

< 

"  The  inhabitants  are  well  supplied  with  pro- 
visions of  every  description  ;  the  fish  in  particular, 
caught  in  the  river  and  neighboring  lakes,  are  of 
a  very  superior  quality.  The  fish  held  in  most 
estimation  is  a  sort  of  large  trout,  called  the 
Michillimakinac  white  fish,  from  its  being  caught 
mostly  in  the  straits  of  that  name."     P.  352. 

"  The  country  round  Detroit  is  uncommonly  flat, 
and  in  none  of  the  rivers  is  there  a  fall  sufficient, 
to  turn  even  a  grist  mill.  The  current  of  Detroit 
River  itself  is  stronger  than  that  of  any  others, 
and  a  floating  ,mill  was  once  invented  by  a 
Frenchman,  which  was  chained  in  the  middle  of 
that  river,  where  it  was  thought  the  stream  would 
be  sufficiently  swift  to  turn    the    water-wheel ;    the 


216  MILLS. 


[Chap.  IX. 


building  of  it  was  attended  with  considerable 
expense  to  the  inhabitants,  but  after  it  was 
finished  it  by  no  means  answered  their  expect- 
ations. They  grind  their  corn  at  present  by  wind 
mills,  which  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  in 
any  other  part  of  North  America."     P.  354. 

The  author  was  mistaken  concerning  the 
absence  of  water  power.  There  is  a  consider- 
able though  gradual  rise  from  the  Detroit  River 
northward,  and  the  water  is  distributed  from  a 
reservoir  upon  high  ground  within  the  city  so  as 
to  reach  the  upper  stories  of  high  buildings. 
Within  living  memory,  there  were  streams  within 
the  present  limits  of  the  city  on  which  water-mills 
once  existed.  Campau's  mill  has  been  referred 
to  already.  A  mill  also  stood  on  the  Cass  Farm, 
upon  the  River  Savoyard.  Two  mills  were  driven 
by  the  waters  of  Bloody  Run,  one  near  the 
"  Pontiac  Tree,"  where  the  stream  crossed  what 
is  now  Jefferson  Avenue,  and  one  near  the  Fort 
Gratiot  Road.  Mr.  Tremble  also  had  a  water 
mill  on  Tremble's  (now  Connor's)  Creek,  at  or 
near  the  starting  point  of  the  Moravian  Road. 

The  wind  mills,  which  have  now  mostly  dis- 
appeared, were  once  seen  on  every  headland  and 
point,  and  their  white  sails  revolving  in  the  wind 
presented  a  pleasant  spectacle  on  a  fair  summer 
day.  They  were  all  built  alike,  in  circular  form, 
with  a  broad  sloping  stone  foundation  and  up- 
right wooden  body,  surmounted  by  a  conical  roof, 
which  was  turned  by  a  long    timber  sweep,  so  as 


Chap.  IX.]  MARIETTA  COLONISTS. 


217 


to  bring  the  sails  into  position.  One  of  these 
wind  mills,  on  the  American  side  opposite  Sand- 
wich or  Montreal  Point,  (on  the  Gobaie  Farm, 
since  known  as  the  Knaggs,  and  Bela  Hubbard 
Farm)  had  the  reputation  of  being  haunted,  but 
the  legend  has  escaped  the  antiquarian,  and  is 
now   lost. 

The  town  of  Marietta,  Ohio,  was  founded  in 
1789  by  a  colony  from  New  England,  embracing 
some  of  the  ablest  -men  that  came  to  the  West ; 
and  the  pattern  they  set,  of  caring  for  schools  and 
churches  in  the  very  beginning  of  their  undertak- 
ing, was  of  infinite  service  in  shaping  the  future  of 
the  Territory.  Most  of  them  had  seen  honorable 
service,  and  borne  rank  in  the  Revolutionary  Army, 
and  they  were  men  of  culture  and  refinement,  as 
well  as  good  sense  and  energy.  In  after  days 
Michigan  received  many  valuable  citizens  from 
that  colony.  The  first  new  settler  in  Detroit  after 
the  occupation  was  from  that  place.  Solomon 
Sibley  arrived  in  1797.  He  was  then  a  promi- 
nent lawyer,  and,  as  the  first  member  in  time,  was 
also  during  his  professional  career  second  to  no 
one  in  character  or  ability.  After  filling  other  pub- 
lic stations,  he  became  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  so  remained  until  he  felt  com- 
pelled to  retire  in  old  age  from  deafness.  He  was 
one  of  those  men  of  sturdy  honesty  and  native 
sagacity,  whose  learning  and  judgment  are  never 
obscured  by  egotism  or  warped  by  eccentricity, 
and    who    by   manly    frankness    and    solid    wisdom 


218  GENERAL  CASS.  I  Chap.  IX. 

are  the  best  guides  and  safest  reliance  of  young 
commonwealths.  Those  distinguished  pioneers 
found  it  easy  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  ways  of 
the  wilderness,  and  the  training  of  the  schools  did 
not  unfit  them  for  the  work  of  the  settler.  When, 
three  or  four  years  later,  Judge  Sibley  brought 
home  from  Marietta  his  young  bride  (a  daughter 
of  Colonel  Ebenezer  Sproat,  and  granddaughter  of 
Commodore  Whipple,  both  of  Revolutionary  repu- 
tation,), they  halted  their  hordes  one  evening  at 
the  hospitable  home  of  Major  Jonathan  Cass,  where 
Lewis  Cass,  then  fresh  from  Dartmouth,  was  pound- 
ing samp  in  a  hollow  stump.  This  was  the  first 
meeting  of  two  gentlemen  who  were  destined  to 
be  friends  and  coadjutors  through  many  years  of 
stirring  events,  and  both  of  them  lived  to  see  the 
Northwest  Territory  transmuted  into  populous  and 
prosperous   States. 

The  early  days  of  all  communities  are  full  of 
amusing  occurrences.  Where  newspapers  are  not 
in  circulation,  and  there  are  no  frequent  comings 
and  goings  of  travellers,  each  town  and  hamlet 
furnishes  its  own  comedies  and  dramas,  and  every 
one  feels  bound  to  contribute  what  he  can  to  en- 
liven it.  The  Bar  is  somewhat  noted  for  its  prone- 
ness  to  such  mischief,  and  the  young  barristers, 
who  found  plenty  of  leisure  in  the  intervals  of 
Court,  did  their  full  share.  The  distinguished  elders 
of  the  Common  Pleas  were  on  one  occasion,  re- 
corded in  their  journal,  led  into  furnishing  their 
quota.     They  held   their  sessions  in  the  ball-room 


Chap.  IX. J  ELECTION  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.  219 

of  Mr.  Dodemead,  who  kept  a  noted  tavern  near 
the  present  Michigan  Exchange.  His  bar-room 
having  proved  tempting  to  the  soldiers,  Colonel 
Strong,  the  Commander,  placed  a  sentry  at  the 
door  to  keep  them  out.  Colonel  Elijah  Brush,  the 
Public  Attorney,  noticing  this  on  his  way  up  stairs, 
proceeded  to  startle  the  Court  by  suggesting  to 
their  Honors  a  doubt  whether,  as  being  under 
military  duress,  their  proceedings  might  not  be  in- 
valid. The  Court,  after  due  consideration,  refer- 
red the  matter  to  the  waggish  counsel  to  be 
reported  upon.  In  due  time  he  made  his  report, 
so  skilfully  drawn  as  to  leave  the  main  question 
in  hopeless  obscurity.  The  commanding  officer, 
however,  removed  his  sentinel,  and  the  civil  au- 
thority regained  its  liberty. 

In  1 798,  the  Territory  had  acquired  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  which  entitled  it  to  a  General 
Assembly,  and  three  members  were  allotted  to 
Wayne  County.  The  elections  were  then  held 
viva  voce,  and  not  by  ballot.  Solomon  Sibley,  Jacob 
Visger,  and  Charles  F.  Chabert  de  Joncaire  (the 
Chevalier  de  Joncaire  before  mentioned),  were 
chosen  Representatives.  The  Legislature  was  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  Cincinnati,  on  the  4th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1799.  The  first  Council  consisted  of  James 
Findlay  (afterwards  Colonel  during  the  war  of 
1 81 2,  and  with  the  army  at  Detroit,)  Judge  Jacob 
Burnet,  of  Cincinnati  ;  Henry  Vanderburgh,  (after- 
wards a  Judge  of  Indiana  Territory)  ;  David  Vance 
and  Robert  Oliver,  (a  Colonel  of   the  Revolution.) 


220 


TERRITORIAL  LAWS.  [Chap.  IX. 


General    William     Henry     Harrison    was    chosen 
Delegate  to  Congress. 

The  previous  Territorial  Code  adopted  by  the 
Governor  and  Judges  was  found  very  imperfect, 
and  the  Legislature  had  much  wotk  to  do  in  sup- 
plying its  defects,  especially  in  regard  to  that  large 
class  of  cases  involving  remedies  not  found  in 
common  law  proceedings,  and  usually  granted  in 
equity.  The  courts  had  not  been  granted  equity 
powers.  The  delegate  was  instructed  to  obtain 
for  the  Territory  the  title  to  the  sixteenth  section 
of  lands  in  each  township,  and  the  entire  township 
of  land,  which  had  been  promised  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  aid  of  schools  and  colleges.  The  Legis- 
lature also  passed  laws  for  the  protection  of  the 
Indians,  and  especially  to  prevent  the  sale  of  ard- 
ent spirits.  There  was  a  strong  feeling  against 
the  extent  of  the  Governor's  veto  power,  as  well 
as  his  assumed  power  to  control  the  entire  di- 
vision and  erection  of  towns  and  counties ;  and 
Congress  was  petitioned  to  restrict  them.  Gover- 
nor St.  Clair  was  very  much  inclined  to  use  the 
veto  power,  and  did  it  so  freely  that  legisla- 
tion was  almost  suspended,  and  the  organization 
of  the  State  became  desirable  to  avoid  further 
trouble. 

The  munificent  scheme  of  devoting  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  public  lands  to  education, 
was  devised  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  Re- 
public. In  1785,  the  sixteenth  section  in  each 
township  of  six  miles  square  was  first  pledged  to 


Chap.  IX.]  SCHOOLS.     LAND  TITLES.  221 

the  support  of  the  schools  of  such  townships,  and 
in  the  great  Symmes  purchase  one  township  was 
to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  higher  education. 
This  early  recognition  of  the  necessity  of  schools 
and  colleges,  enforced  in  the  form  of  a  perpetual 
compact  between  the  Government  and  the  people 
and  States  in  the  Territory,  has  been  a  source 
and  stimulus  of  intelligence,  the  importance  of 
which  cannot  be  estimated.  The  duty  of  the  State 
to  educate  her  children,  generously  and  thoroughly, 
can  never  be  disregarded  without  violating  the 
pledges  on  which  the  rights  of  the  State  and  Ter- 
ritory were  created. 

While  the  population  of  Wayne  County  was 
large  compared  with  that  of  other  parts  of  the 
Territory,  there  was  a  serious  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  its  advancement.  The  Indian  title  had  only 
been  extinguished  in  a  strip  six  miles  wide  be- 
tween the  River  Raisin  and  Lake  St.  Clair ;  a 
small  tract  about  Mackinaw,  and  a  few  detached 
parcels  that  afterwards  fell  within  Ohio.  The  De- 
troit settlement  was  regarded  as  the  most  pros- 
perous in  the  Northwest.  That  at  Mackinaw  was 
likely  to  become  important.  But  until  more  lands 
should  be  brought  into  market  there  could  be  no 
rapid  growth.  No  steps  had  yet  been  taken  to 
ascertain  what  lands  had  been  lawfully  transferred 
under  the  French  and  British  rule,  and  this  also 
stood  in  the  way  of  further  settlement.  Efforts 
were  made  to  bring  these  matters  into  adjust- 
ment, but  some  years  passed  before  any  progress 
was  reached. 


222 


DIVISION   OF  THE  TERRITORY.  [Chap.  IX. 


In  1800  an  act  of  Congress  provided  that  after 
July  4th  of  that  year  the  Territory  should  be  divided- 
throwing  into  the  new  Territory  of  Indiana  the 
country  included  in  two  of  the  three  originally 
proposed  States  contemplated  by  the  Ordinance  of 
1787.  The  line  between  Indiana  and  the  remainder 
was  run  due  north  from  Fort  Recovery  to  the 
National  boundary  in  Lake  Superior,  passing  a 
few  miles  west  of  Mackinaw.  It  was  for  a  time 
in  doubt  whether  Mackinaw  was  in  Indiana  or  the 
Northwest  Territory.  General  Harrison  was  first 
Governor  of  Indiana,  and  Judge  Vanderburgh's 
residence  there  made  a  vacancy  in  the  Council, 
which  was  filled  by  the  selection  of  Judge  Sibley. 
The  seat  of  government  was  removed  by  Con- 
gress from  Cincinnati  to  Chillicothe,  a  step  which 
caused  much  discontent,  and  which  was  regarded 
as  an  infraction  of  the  stipulations  of  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787,  which  gave  the  Legislature  of  the 
Territory  plenary  powers  of  legislation.  The 
Council  thereupon  passed  a  bill  fixing  the  meet- 
ings in  rotation  at  Marietta,  Cincinnati  and  Chilli- 
cothe. The  House  agreed  in  the  right  to  do  this, 
but  disagreed  as  to  the  places,  and  nothing  more 
was  done  at  that  time. 

Accordingly,  in  November,  1801,  the  Legis- 
lature assembled  in  Chillicothe,  where  they  re- 
mained in  session,  until  January  23,  1802.  At 
this  session  the  town  of  Detroit  was  incorporated, 
with  a  Board  of  Trustees,  and  with  power  to 
make    by-laws    and    ordinances    for  the  regulation 


Chap.  IX.j  DISTURBANCE  AT  CH1LLIC0THE.  223 

of  the  town.  Judge  Sibley  was  succeeded  in  the 
House  by  Jonathan  Schiefflin  of  Detroit,  who 
played  a  prominent  part  during  the  session. 
The  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  to 
Chillicothe  was  very  severely  criticised  by  various 
members,  and  the  people  of  that  town  were 
charged  with  intriguing  for  it,  and  the  Governor 
had  also  expressed  himself  against  it.  Mr. 
Schiefflin  had  been  especially  emphatic  in  de- 
nouncing it.  A  mob  of  townspeople,  coun- 
tenanced by  prominent  citizens,  created  a  riot, 
and  assembled  before  the  house  where  the  Gover- 
nor and  Schiefflin  lodged.  They  at  length  forced 
the  door,  when  Mr.  Schiefflin  met  them  with  a 
brace  of  loaded  pistols,  and  drove  them  back  into 
the  street.  They  kept  up  their  disturbances  two 
nights  without  serious  harm  to  any  one.  But 
the  Legislature,  to  signify  their  sense  of  this  con- 
duct, adjourned  to  meet  at  Cincinnati  the  next 
November. 

Movements  were  now  set  on  foot  which  were 
to  terminate  in  the  speedy  establishment  of  a 
new  State.  Wayne  County  was  not  consulted 
by  the  promoters  of  the  scheme,  as  Judge  Burnet 
states,  for  political  reasons.  On  the  30th  of 
April,  1802,  an  Act  of  Congress  was  passed 
authorizing  the  people  in  that  part  of  the  Territory 
east  of  Indiana,  and  south  of  the  line  running 
east  from  the  southerly  point  of  Lake  Michigan, 
to  adopt  a  constitution.  All  north  of  that  line 
was  annexed    to    Indiana,    but    Congress    reserved 


224 


ANNEXATION  TO  INDIANA.  [Chap.  IX. 


power  either  to  make  it  a  separate  State  or  to 
attach  it  to  Ohio.  The  people  of  Wayne  County 
were  very  much  incensed  at  being  given  no  voice 
in  the  determination  of  their  future,  and  at  being 
deprived  of  the  right  of  representation  ;  while 
there  was  a  similar  feeling  in  some  parts  of  Ohio, 
arising  from  a  conviction  that  it  was  a  political 
trick  to  secure  particular  results.  Judge  Burnet 
published  in  his  Notes  on  the  Northwestern 
Territory  some  interesting  documents  showing 
the  extent  of  the  feeling  concerning  the  treat- 
ment  of  Wayne    County. 

The  union  with  Indiana  was  so  brief  that  it 
has  left  no  traces  behind  it.  The  Legislative 
power  being  thrown  into  the  hands  of  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Judges,  the  people  lost  their  voice  in 
the  Government.  If  there  were  any  laws  passed 
in  the  interval  they  are  not  accessible  to  ordinary 
research,  and  they  never  affected  rights  in  Michi- 
gan appreciably. 

The  town  of  Detroit  made  use  of  its  new 
prerogatives  concerning  the  prevention  of  fires, 
and  the  use  of  streets  as  bowling  alleys.  There 
had  been  some  changes  in  the  town  since  the 
French  days,  but  not  many.  The  streets  were,  as 
before,  sixteen  and  twenty  feet  wide,  and  the 
Chemin  de  Ronde  twelve  feet  wide,  but  with  some 
jogs  and  angles  widening  it  further  in  places. 
The  main  fort  was  outside  of  the  town,  and  north 
of  the  River  Savoyard.  In  front,  on  the  Detroit 
River,  were  two    commodious  wharves.     Governor 


Chap.  IX. J  BUILDINGS   IN   DETROIT. 


225 


Hamilton  had  replaced  the  original  chateau  by  a 
large  and  fine  house  of  hewn  timber.  The  houses 
generally  were  well-built  block-houses,  one-and-a- 
half  stories  high,  with  peaked  roofs  starting  but  a 
few  feet  from  the  ground,  and  dormer  windows. 
The  only  sidewalks  that  could  be  afforded  in  such 
narrow  ways  were  single  timbers,  squared  and 
about  a  foot  in  diameter.  East  of  the  stockade 
were  the  navy  garden  and  navy  yard  and  ceme- 
tery, extending  a  little  east  of  Woodward  Avenue. 
There  were  probably  some  scattered  dwellings  on 
the  Domain  outside.  A  space  of  one  arpent  wide 
sold  from  the  westerly  side  of  the  Askin  or  Brush 
Farm,  which  joined  the  Domain  on  the  east,  was 
built  up  from  the  river  to  Michigan  Avenue  with 
for  the  most  part  good  buildings,  that  survived  the 
fire  of  1805.  The  lots  within  the  old  town  were 
too  small  and  closely  built  to  afford  room  for  courts 
or  gardens.  A  few,  however,  had  purchased  enough 
to  indulge  in  this  luxury,  and  these  were  men  of 
wealth  who  could  afford  to  follow  their  tastes  and 
beautify  their  abodes.  The  houses,  like  those 
built  after  1805,  were  furnished  with  stout  doors 
and  shutters,  and  the  outer  door,  as  in  the  ancient 
New  York  mansions,  was  divided  in  two,  so  that 
the  lower  half  might  be  kept  closed  and  the  upper 
half  open,  allowing  all  the  benefit  of  light  and  air 
without  the  intrusion  of  trespassers  of  the  human 
or  brute  creation.  No  vehicles  were  used  that 
could  not  be  drawn  by  a  single  pony.  In  the 
centre  of  each  house  arose  an  enormous  chimney 
15 


226 


CHIMNEY  ARRANGEMENTS.  [Chap.  IX. 


with  flues  of  large  capacity,  not  reaching  far  above 
the  roof,  but  affording  a  vent  to  the  great  volumes 
of  smoke  that  arose  from  generous  fire  places 
kept  heaped  with  long  beech  and  maple  or  hickory 
wood.  Cooking-stoves  were  not  invented  yet,  and 
the  baking  was  done  in  large  dome-like  ovens, 
built  in  the  yard  or  attached  to  the  chimney,  or 
else  in  bake-kettles  or  Dutch  ovens,  where  coals 
beneath  and  coals  on  the  broad  iron  cover  ac- 
complished the  work  speedily.  The  cremaillere, 
or  crane,  (made  classic  by  Longfellow's  beautiful 
poem,  the  "  Hanging  of  the  Crane")  swung  from 
stout  staples  in  the  side  of  the  chimney,  with  its 
array  of  pots  and  kettles,  hung  on  the  pot-hooks 
and  trammels  that  gave  names  in  our  youth  to  the 
first  efforts  of  the  penman  ;  and  the  savory  roast 
turned  before  the  fire  beneath  the  chimney-piece 
and  under  the  open  flue,  or  on  long  horizontal 
spits  before  a  tin  reflector.  These  low  roofs  and 
great  chimneys  were  not  without  their  inconveni- 
encies.  It  is  told  of  a  gentleman  who  in  early 
times  was  an  exemplary  judge  and  magistrate,  that, 
notwithstanding  his  dignity,  he  on  one  festival  oc- 
casion, when  a  good  neighbor  was  preparing  a 
grand  banquet,  went  up  to  the  roof,  and  without 
Caleb  Balderstone's  necessities,  dropped  a  line 
with  a  fish-hook  down  the  kitchen  flue,  while  a 
confederate  sent  off  the  cook  for  a  moment,  and 
attached  the  hook  to  a  fine  turkey  that  had  just 
reached  the  proper  brownness.  The  frightened 
servant,  returning   when  the  bird  had  flown  up  the 


Chap.  IX.]  CIVIC   MISDEMEANORS. 


227 


chimney,  was  firmly  convinced  the  disappearance 
was  due  to  nothing  short  of  witchcraft.  In  1828, 
on  a  bright  summer  afternoon,  the  passers-by  on 
Jefferson  avenue  were  surprised  and  startled  to 
see  a  large  bear  promenading  along  the  ridge- 
pole of  Mr.  Thibout's  house  (directly  opposite  the 
Michigan  Exchange) ;  and  although  the  alarm  given 
brought  out  half  the  settlement,  Bruin  escaped 
safely  to  the  woods. 

The  records  of  the  Trustees  show  a  large 
weekly  list  of  fines,  against  the  inhabitants  who 
failed  to  keep  their  water-butts  full,  or  their  leather 
buckets  complete  and  within  reach,  or  their  fire- 
bags  (large  canvas  bags  for  removing  goods) 
empty,  or  their  ladders  sound.  The  zeal  with 
which  these  precautions  were  followed  up  shows 
the  constant  fear  and  danger  of  fires;  and  was 
almost  prophetic.  It  was  no  slight  charge  to  keep 
up  a  water  supply,  for  there  were  few  wells,  and 
no  means  of  drawing  water  but  from  the  river  by 
carts,  or  in  buckets  swung  on  shoulder-yokes. 
There  were  no  engines;  and  at  fires  the  people 
formed  double  lines  to  the  river,  the  men  to  pass 
the  full  buckets  and  the  women  and  children  the 
empty  ones. 

The  other  misdemeanors  most  common  were 
horse  racing  and  bowling.  Canadian  ponies  and 
their  masters  w^re  as  prone  to  racing  as  the  he- 
roes of  the  turf  in  England;  and  no  amount  of 
fining  could  keep  the  prosperous  burghers  from 
trying    their   speed    in    the    narrow  streets  of  the 


228 


PASTIMES.      BRITISH   FORT.  [Chai-.  IX. 


town.  But  a  more  dangerous  pastime  was  rolling 
cannon  balls  in  the  streets.  Ninepin  alleys  required 
more  room  than  the  short  blocks  afforded,  and 
the  narrow  highways  were  tempting  substitutes, 
while  an  eighteen-pound  ball  required  strength 
and  skill  to  send  it  swiftly  and  straight  along  the 
ground.  It  is  not  without  interest  to  see  that 
the  culprits  brought  before  the  Trustees  for  these 
transgressions  were  not  vagabonds  and  loafers, 
(for  the  brisk  settlement  had  no  toleration  for 
such  nuisances),  but  the  solid  mentof  business,  who 
indulged  in  these  simple  amusements  with  the 
same  overflowing  mirth  that  made  their  kinsmen 
in  Auld  Reekie  spend  Saturday  at  e'en  at  high 
jinks. 

The  change  of  the  sovereignty  took  many  of 
the  wealthiest  merchants  into  Canada,  where  a 
part  settled  in  Sandwich  and  a  part  at  Amherst- 
burgh.  The  British  Government  at  once  prepared 
to  build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  on  Bois- 
blanc  Island,  which  had  been  the  seat  of  the  Hu- 
ron mission,  and  commanded  the  entrance  to  Lake 
Erie.  Objection  was  made  by  the  United  States, 
and  the  question  was  serious  enough  to  induce 
the  British  to  change  their  plan  and  build  on  the 
main  land,  near  by. s  Under  the  Treaty  of  1 783, 
the  boundary  line  was  to  run  along  the  middle  of 
the  water-communication  between  Lake  Erie  and 
Lake  Huron,  and  nothing  was  said  about  particu- 
lar channels  or  islands.     It  was  not  until  the  close 

«  Weld's  Letters. 


Chap.  IX.]  DISPUTED   BOUNDARY.  229 

of  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain  that  provision 
was  made,  in  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  for  ascertain- 
ing the  ownership  of  the  various  islands,  by  a 
commission  appointed  under  the  6th  article  of  that 
treaty.  Peter  B.  Porter  and  Anthony  Barclay 
were  appointed  commissioners  by  their  respective 
governments,  and,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1822,  they 
determined  that  the  line  should  run  west  of  Eiois- 
blanc.  The  .channel  between  that  island  and  Am- 
herstburgh  was  the  main  ship  channel,  and  under 
the  common  usage  of  nations  (as  recently  con- 
firmed by  the  award  of  the  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many on  the  San  Juan  boundary  question  on 
the  Pacific  coast)  the  national  boundary  line  is 
generally  presumed  to  follow  that  channel.  The 
nearness  of  Bois-blanc  to  the  British  mainland 
made  it  very  unpleasant  to  have  such  a  foot- 
hold for  a  possible  enemy,  and  jt  probably  would 
not  have  been  agreed  to  had  attention  been 
called  to  it.  The  decision  of  the  commissioners 
was  equitable,  and  no  one  has  found  fault  with 
it.  In  1796  it  was  found  necessary,  in  order  to 
protect  the  Indians,  that  the  United  States  should 
establish  trading  posts,  where  goods  were  to  be 
furnished  at  a  low  profit  and  of  good  quality. 
The  agents  and  their  employees  were  restrained, 
under  heavy  penalties,  from  dealing  on  their  own 
account,  directly  or  indirectly,  and  from  purchasing 
from  the  Indians  any  articles  of  use  in  hunting, 
cooking,  or  husbandry,  or  any  articles  of  clothing. 
The  laws  providing  for  this,  which  were  temporary, 


230  INDIAN  TRADfc.      PUBLIC  LANDS.  [Chap.  IX 

were  extended  from  time  to  time  until  after  the  erec- 
tion of  Michigan  into  a  Territory.  The  plan  was  not 
perpetuated,  although  it  had  some  advantages,  as 
it  was  liable  to  fraud.  The  Indians  who  received 
annual  presents  from  the  British  and  from  our  own 
government  of  guns,  hatchets,  knives,  cloth,  blankets, 
kettles,  and  many  other  articles  of  use  as  well  as  of 
personal  adornment,  generally  disposed  of  a  large 
share  of  these  articles  before  they  .left  the  set- 
tlements; and  when  they  reached  home  they  were 
not  much  better  off  than  when  they  started,  be- 
sides having  been  exposed  to  the  temptation  of 
drunkenness.  They  would  no  doubt  have  taken 
much  better  hold  of  civilization  if  the  appliances 
had    always    remained    in    their    possession. 

On  the  26th  of  March,  1804,  an  act  was 
passed  providing  for  the  disposal  of  the  public 
lands  within  the*  Territory,  to  which  the  Indian 
title  had  been  extinguished,  and  directing  all  claims 
under  the  French  and  English  Governments  to  be 
presented  to  the  Registers  and  Receivers  of  the 
several  Land  Offices  for  proof.  By  this  act,  sec- 
tion 1 6  in  each  township  was  reserved  for  the  use 
of  schools  within  the  same,  and  an  entire  town- 
ship was  to  be  located  in  each  of  the  districts 
afterwards  forming  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
for  a  seminary  of  learning.  This  was  the  germ 
of  the  University  Fund  of  Michigan,  and  of  the 
Primary  School  Fund.  No  surveys  could  be  made 
with  safety  until  it  was  known  what  valid  private 
grants  existed.     The  Register  and  Receiver  of  the 


Chap.  IX.]  MICHIGAN  TERRITORY   CREATED.  231 

Detroit  (or  Michigan)  District  did  not  complete 
their  labors  until  after  the  erection  of  the  new 
Territory.  In  March,  1806,  George  Hoffman,  Re- 
gister, and  Frederick  Bates,  Receiver  at  Detroit, 
reported  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that 
only  six  valid  titles  had  been  made  out  before 
them,  outside  of  the  town. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that,  on  Janu- 
ary nth,  1805,  Congress  enacted  "that  from  and 
after  the  30th  day  of  June  next,  all  that  part  of 
Indiana  Territory  which  lies  north  of  a  line  drawn 
east  from  the  southerly  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake 
Michigan,  until  it  shall  intersect  Lake  Erie,  and 
east  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  said  southerly  bend 
through  the  middle  of  said  lake  to  its  northern 
extremity,  and  thence  due  north  to  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  United  States,  shall,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  temporary  government*  constitute  a  sepa- 
rate Territory,  and  be  called  Michigan. '« 

Detroit  was  made  the  seat  of  government,  and 
the  ordinances  of  1787  and  1789  were  adopted 
as  the  charter  of  the  Territory. 


CHAPTER     X. 

GOVERNOR    HULL'S    CIVIL    ADMINISTRATION. 

The  transition  to  a  separate  territorial  existence 
was  not  in  all  respects  fortunate.  The  people 
were  entirely  deprived  of  self-government,  and 
the  times  were  such»that  the  use  of  the  Territories 
as  political  counters,  and  as  rewards  for  political 
services,  was  becoming  a  recognized  practice. 
The  discontented  citizen  of  our  own  time,  who 
repeats  with  sadness  the  perennial  story  that 
the  former  days  were  better  than  these,  can  have 
no  intimate  knowledge  of  those  former  days. 
The  course  of  time  has  removed  from  sight  all 
but  the  more  prominent  features  of  the  period. 
Those  who  were  on  the  whole  useful  and  sagaci- 
ous have  been  forgiven  their  lesser  delinquencies 
and  unworthiness,  and  the  mutual  charges  of 
political  corruption  and  dishonesty,  which  people 
forget  as  easily  as  they  make  them,  have  been 
lost  sight  of  in  the  quarrels  of  their  successors. 
Then,  as  now,  most  men  who  were  not  very  soon 
cast  out,  were  probably  in  the  main  well-meaning 
and  patriotic ;  and  like  modern  politicians,  they 
persuaded  themselves  for  the  time  that  their 
personal  or  party  success  was  so  essential  to  the 


Chap.  X.]  POLITICAL  ASPERITY.  233 

public  welfare  that  it  was  better  to  use  means 
questionably  good,  or  unquestionably  bad,  than 
have  the  country  ruined  by  falling  into  other 
hands.  It  is  not  pleasant  for  sensitive  men  to 
have  their  names  and  reputations  bandied  about 
and  smirched,  as  recklessly  as  it  is  too  often  done 
by  careless  writers  of  items  and  editorials ;  but 
there  was  not  an  early  statesman,  from  Washington 
down,  who  has  not  had  meaner  things  said  of  him 
than  are  often  ventured  on  by  decent  papers  now 
concerning  any  one.  The  first  half  century  of  the 
Republic  was  conspicuous  for  the  malignity  of 
.political  quarrels,  and  the  utter  disregard  of  the 
sanctity  of  the  private  reputation  of  public  men. 
In  our  day  men  who  abuse  each  other  in  print,  or 
on  the  stump,  do  not  generally  carry  their  warfare 
into  social  intercourse  ;  and  a  person  who  allows 
his  politics  to  lead  him  into  discourtesy  and 
malevolence  in  private  life,  is  justly  considered 
unworthy  of  respect.  But  in  the  early  years  of 
this  century,  men  believed  as  well  as  spoke  all 
manner  of  evil  against  their  antagonists.  Diplomacy 
had  not  yet  lost  the  habit  of  lying  and  duplicity, 
and  weak  nations  or  communities  had  no  rights 
which  stronger  ones  respected.  The  reign  of 
George  the  Third  was  a  time  when  many  great 
and  patriotic  statesmen  did  honor  to  their  re- 
spective countries  on  both  sides  of  the  Ocean. 
It  was  also  a  time  when  political  morality,  and 
the  manners  as  well  as  ethics  of  public  life,  every- 
where   presented    ample    room    for    improvement ; 


234  POPULATION. 


[Chap.  X. 


and  they  have  been  very  much  bettered.  While, 
therefore,  we  may  find  in  the  history  of  this  region 
plain  marks  of  bad  and  selfish  management,  it 
would  be  quite  unfair  to  lay  too  much  stress  upon 
it.  Our  territorial  governments  have  been  im- 
proved in  some  respects,  but  selfishness  and  mis- 
rule have  not  yet  ceased  to  be  found  among  them. 

The  country  which  became  Michigan  Territory 
after  the  30th  day  of  June,  1805,  contained  at 
that  time  no  white  settlements  except  Detroit  and 
Frenchtown,  and  the  river  settlements,  and 
Mackinaw.  Beyond  these  there  may  have  been 
a  few  straggling  traders,  but  no  communities.  In 
1800  the  population,  (not  including  Indians,)  was 
only  3,206.  This  census  return  must  be  nearly 
correct,  as  in  1799  there  were  three  representa- 
tives, each  representing  at  least  five  hundred  free 
male  inhabitants.  In  18 10  the  population  had  only 
increased  to  4,762.  Of  these  144  were  Indians 
taxed  or  colored  persons,  24  of  whom  were  slaves. 
In  1 8 10  there  were  2,837  free  white  males,  and 
1,781  free  white  females,  showing  an  excess  of 
males  of  1,036.  It  is  evident  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  immigration  was  of  single  men.  In  18 10 
Detroit  had  a  population  of  1,650,  or  more  than 
St.  Louis,  and  nearly  as  many  as  Vincennes  and 
Kaskaskia  combined,  these  two  being  the  chief 
Indiana  settlements.  There  was  not  a  hamlet  or 
farm  in  the  Territory  five  miles  away  from  the 
boundary.  Immediately  across  the  Detroit  River 
was  a  province  which  had  begun  to  improve,  and 


Chap.  X.]  CRITICAL  POSITION  OF  MICHIGAN.  235 

increased  in  population  very  fast.  Its  people  had 
representative  government,  and  were  kindred  in 
blood  and  actual  relatives  of  a  large  share  of  the 
people  of  Michigan,  and  on  the  most  friendly 
terms  with  them.  Surrounding  all  the  white 
settlements  in  Michigan,  and  lying  between  them 
and  the  other  American  States  and  Territories, 
were  gathered  considerable  numbers  of  the  Indians 
of  the  northwest,  who  had  settled  down  in 
Michigan  and  northern  Indiana  and  Ohio,  and  still 
retained  title  to  all  but  a  trifling  part  of  the  lands 
in  the  Territory.  Each  of  these  tribes  was  in  the 
regular  receipt  from  Great  Britain  of  arms, 
annuities  and  supplies,  and  great  pains  were  taken, 
without  resistance  by  our  Government,  to  keep 
up  respect  and  attachment  for  the  British.  With 
the  previous  warning  derived  from  the  withholding 
of  the  posts  and  the  encroachments  on  American 
territory,  it  might  have  been  foreseen  to  be  danger- 
ous4 to  leave  thus  isolated  from  American  sur- 
roundings or  attachments  a  community  whose 
allegiance  had  just  been  changed,  and  not  changed 
by  their  own  procurement.  It  offered  a  strong 
temptation  to  our  neighbors  across  the  Strait,  to 
make  a  further  effort  to  get  back  the  peninsula 
before  it  could  be  settled ;  and,  while  it  is  not 
established  that  the  British  Government  was 
directly  responsible  for  all  that  was  done,  the 
sequel  showed  that  the  land  was  coveted,  and  the 
effort  was  speedily  made  at  a  terrible  cost  to  the 
border. 


236  UNWISE   APPOINTMENTS.  [Chap.  X. 

The  selection  of  rulers  for  such  a  country, 
who  were  to  have  the  entire  control  both  of 
legislation  and  of  administration,  required  more 
care  than  it  received.  The  appointments  were  not 
open  to  any  apparent  objection,  and  perhaps  the 
wisdom  that  comes  after  the  fact  should  not  blame 
what  was  not  generally  supposed  to  be  unsafe. 
The  principle  of  appointment  followed  then  is 
very  generally  followed  now,  and  none  more  dis- 
creetly. No  sufficient  heed  was  given  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  population  or  its  ways.  No  wiser  or 
better  men  were  to  be  found  in  the  United  States 
than  those  who  had  settled  in  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory after  the  Revolution.  They  were  men  of 
sagacity  and  adaptability,  with  large  experience  of 
old  as  well  as  new  countries,  accustomed  to  every 
kind  of  society,  and  possessing  the  confidence  and 
regard  of  their  neighbors.  The  Indians  also  knew 
both  their  worth  and  their  prowess,  and  had  a 
wholesome  respect  for  the  Long  Knives.  The 
Governor  of  Indiana,  General  Harrison,  had  been 
wisely  chosen  from  this  class,  and  that  Territory 
had  gone  on  rapidly  in  improvement,  while  the  new 
State  of  Ohio  was  increasing  with  wonderful 
speed.  Michigan  needed  a  western  governor  and 
western  ideas,  but  it  failed  to  get  the  benefit  of 
either. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  the  adoption 
of  good  laws  is  a  necessary  sign  of  prosperity. 
If  they  emanate  from  popular  bodies,  they  may 
indicate   (though   not    always)    the    popular   sense. 


Chap.  X.]  TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS. 


237 


But  there  are  often  good  laws  upon  our  statute 
books  that  have  never  really  governed  the  action 
of  the  people,  and  there  are  bad  laws  which  have 
never  hurt  them,  because  never  carried  out  fully. 
It  is  not  on  legislation,  so  much  as  on  the  actual 
conduct  of  affairs,  that  prosperity  depends.  The 
rottenest  governments  have  had  written  codes 
which  have  been  greatly  admired,  but  which  never 
prevented  mischief.  The  codes  adopted  by  the 
Governor  and  Judges  of  Michigan  were  substan- 
tially like  those  of  their  neighbors,  and  were  not 
complained  of/  But  the  first  decade  of  the  Ter- 
ritorial life  was  unfortunate.  As  the  time  ap- 
proached for  organizing  the  Territory,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son sent  to  the  Senate  for  confirmation  the  names 
of  William  Hull  for  Governor,  Stanley  Griswold 
for  Secretary,  and  Augustus  Brevoort  Woodward, 
Samuel  Huntington  and  Frederick  Bates  as  Judges. 
Mr.  Huntington  declined  the  office,  and  in  1806 
his  place  was  filled  by  John  Griffin.  As  the  Gov- 
ernor, under  the  ordinance,  had  the  entire  control 
of  establishing  local  offices  and  appointing  officers, 
the  character  of  the  local  organization  depended 
almost  entirely  upon  his   judgment. 

Of  these  persons,  Governor  Hull  was  an  old 
Revolutionary  officer  from  Massachusetts ;  Mr. 
Griswold  an  able  man  but  a  red-hot  politician 
from  Connecticut,  who  had  left  the  pulpit  to  be- 
come an  editor,  and  who  was  only  comfortable 
when  he  had  his  own  way ;  Judge  Bates  was  a 
resident  land  officer  at   Detroit,  of  sterling  worth, 


238  TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS.  [Chap.  X 

and  admirably  fitted  in  all  respects  for  his  place  ; 
Judge  Griffin  was  a  man  of  elegant  accomplish- 
ments, but  no  great  force  of  character  or  con- 
victions; and  Judge  Woodward  was  one  of  those 
strange  compounds  of  intellectual  power  and  wis- 
dom in  great  emergencies,  with  very  frequent  ca- 
price and  wrongheadedness,  that    defy  description. 

Two  of  the  three  Judges,  Bates  and  Griffin, 
were  Virginians  by  birth,  and  old  friends  of  Jeffer- 
son. Woodward,  though  generally  credited  to  Vir- 
ginia, was  not,  it  is  believed,  a  native  of  that  State, 
but  of  New  York.  He  resided  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  had  attracted  considerable  attention 
from  some  ambitious  writings  of  a  somewhat  specu- 
lative character,  to  which  Mr.  Jefferson  had  taken 
a  fancy.  They  had  many  points  of  resemblance 
in  their  tastes.  The  executive  officers  were  doubt- 
less selected  (being  otherwise  regarded  as  compe- 
tent) because  of  their  peculiar  prominence  as  his 
supporters,  in  a  region  where  he  was  not  very 
popular. 

Mr.  Griswold,  who  had  made  himself  useful  in 
various  ways  in  land  matters,  was  for  some  reason 
unable  to  harmonize  with  the  Governor,  and  it  is 
said  desired  to  supersede  him.  In  this,  however, 
he  failed,  and  was  himself  removed  at  the  end  of 
his  first  term  of  three  years;  and  his  place  was 
filled  by  Reuben  Atwater  of  Vermont.  This  gen- 
tleman was  universally  respected  for  his  integrity 
and  good  sense;  and  having  been  uniformly  cour- 
teous and  diligent,  and  having  attended  to  his  own 


Chap.  X.]  ARRIVAL  AT   DETROIT. 


239 


business  without  disturbing  or  squabbling  with  his 
neighbors,  he  has  failed  to  make  as  conspicuous  a 
place  in  our  local  annals  as  if  he  had  been  less 
exemplary. 

Judge  Bates  remained  on  the  bench  a  little 
over  a  year.  He  found  his  associations  unpleas- 
ant, and  with  Judge  Griffin  more  than  unpleasant, 
so  much  so  as  to  have  nearly  led  to  a  duel.  He 
resigned  his  commission  in  November,  1806,  and 
during  the  next  winter  was  made  Secretary  of 
Louisiana  Territory,  at  St.  Louis,  where  he  remained 
continuously  in  this  and  other  responsible  posi- 
tions, and  died  in  1825,  while  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Missouri.  His  resignation  was  a  serious 
misfortune  for  Michigan.  After  he  left  there  was 
no  interruption  in  the  unseemly  quarrels  and  in- 
trigues which  brought  the  legislative  board  and 
the  court  into  contempt,  and  effectually  checked 
the  prosperity  of  the  Territory.  But  in  the  out- 
set, and  apparently  until  Griffin  came,  there  was 
no  serious  clashing.  The  latter  apparently  was  not 
entirely  above  mischief-making  between  Woodward 
and  his  colleagues ;  and  while  he  generally  ad- 
hered to  the  views  of  Woodward,  he  never  struck 
out  in  any  original  path  of  good  or  evil. 

The  judges  were  appointed  during  good  be- 
havior, and  Judge  Woodward  was  presiding  judge. 
He  arrived  in  Detroit  on  the  29th  of  June,  1805. 
The  Governor  reached  the  town  on  the  1st  of 
July.  On  Tuesday,  July  2d,  the  Governor  admin- 
istered the  oath  of  office  to  the  other  officers,  and 
organized  the  government. 


240  DETROIT    BURNED  TChap.  X. 

They  found  a  very  sad  state  of  affairs.  On 
the  nth  day  of  June,  1805,  a  fire  destroyed  every 
public  and  private  building  in  the  town,  except  a 
warehouse  owned  by  Angus  Mackintosh,  and  a 
log-built  bakery  on  the  water's  edge  below  the 
bluff.  The  warm  season  had  enabled  the  people 
to  camp  out  without  discomfort,  and  those  who 
could  not  find  refuge  in  the  hospitable  abodes 
near  by,  and  in  Canada,  had  found  rude  shelter 
on  the  domain  adjoining.  Some  had  already  put 
up  new  houses.  The  narrow  streets  and  small 
lots  in  the  old  town  were  not  well  fitted  for  the 
growth  of  a  settlement,  and  it  was  seen  by  all 
that  a  more  commodious  plan  should  be  devised. 
In  the  uncertainty  that  existed  concerning  the 
ownership  and  control  of  the  domain,  it  was  con- 
cluded to  lay  out  a  town,  and  provide  for  the 
present  emergency,  leaving  all  questions  to  be 
settled  in  future.  Lots  were  disposed  of  enough 
to  meet  the  necessity,  and  the  case  was  held  over 
for  the  action  of   Congress. 

Within  the  next  three  months  a  code  of  laws 
was  prepared,  and  adopted  seriatim  in  sections 
from  day  to  day,  by  unanimous  concurrence.  The 
statutes  were  well  drawn  and  judicious,  so  far  as 
can  be  seen.  Judicial  matters  received  early  at- 
tention. 

Small  cases  were  left  to  be  disposed  of  by 
justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  Supreme  Court  was 
vested  with  exclusive  original  jurisdiction  over  land 
cases    and    capital    criminal    cases,  and    concurrent 


Chap.  X.J  COURT  DISTRICTS.    LOTTERIES.  241 

jurisdiction  over  other  civil  controversies  involving 
more  than  two  hundred  (afterwards  five  hundred) 
dollars,  with  appellate  power  generally.  ■  The  in- 
termediate jurisdiction  was  vested  in  district  courts 
presided  over  by  one  of  the  judges.  Three  dis- 
tricts were  created  by  the  Governor  in  the  first 
instance,  called  the  Districts  of  Erie,  Detroit  and 
Huron;  the  District  of  Erie  comprehending  the  River 
Raisin  country  from  Ohio  northward  to  the  Huron 
River,  and  the  Detroit  and  Huron  Districts,  which 
were  temporarily  thrown  into  one,  extending  to 
Lake  Huron.  A  fourth  district  was  created  which 
extended  to  Mackinaw. 

One  of  the  earliest  acts  provided  for  raising 
by  four  successive  lotteries  the  sum  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  for  the  encouragement  of  litera- 
ture and  the  improvement  of  the  city  of  Detroit. 
This  act,  passed  on  the  9th  of  September,  1805, 
is  the  first  official  recognition  of  its  existence  as 
a  city.  Doubtless  the  Chief  Justice  had  already 
,  drawn  in  imagination  the  curious  plan  which  his 
sanguine  fancy,  looking  forward  seven  or  eight 
centuries,  saw  filled  out  with  the  completest  city 
ever  devised.  Less  than  half  a  century  saw  more 
than  threefold  its  space  completely  built,  but  the 
symmetrical  scheme  was  not  as  fair  in  other  eyes 
as  in  his  own.  Colonel  McKenney,  in  his  ♦  '■  Tour 
to  the  Lakes,"  aptly  described  it  as  representing 
a  spider's  web  with  all  its  lines  arranged  with 
reference  to  a  principal  centre.  The  affection  of 
its  author  for  this  device  was  extreme,  and  his 
16 


242 


MILITIA.  [Chai\  X. 


pride  in  it  excessive ;  and  much  of  the  trouble 
that  afterwards  arose,  and  had  its  influence  on  the 
peace  of  the  Territory,  came  from  the  want  of 
respect  among  his  colleagues  for  this  darling  child 
of  his  genius,  which  was  shorn  of  its  fair  propor- 
tions and  dislocated. 

The  Governor  took  immediate  steps  to  enroll 
the  militia.  Francis  Chabert  de  Joncaire,  Judge 
Woodward,  Elijah  Brush  and  John  Anderson,  were 
commissioned  colonels,  with  other  officers  subordi- 
nate. The  act  adopted  for  their  government  gave 
the  Governor  power  to  call  them  out  whenever 
he  chose,  and  his  ill-advised  course  concerning 
them  was  a  source  of  trouble.  He  appears  (as  well 
as  some  of  his  subordinates)  to  have  had  very  high 
views  of  military  prerogative  in  time  of  peace ; 
and  the  attempt  to  enforce  the  same  nicety  of 
clothing  and  equipment  customary  in  the  regular 
service, Ued  to  insubordination  on  the  one  hand 
and  anger  on  the  other,  which  did  not  raise  him 
in  popular  esteem.  But  this  trouble  was  not  im- 
mediate. 

The  appropriation  bills  show  that  a  temporary 
shelter,  called  a  "bower,"  was  built  for  the  court. 
The  grand  jury,  when  the  court  first  met,  pre- 
sented the  subject  of  land  titles  as  requiring  im- 
mediate attention.  No  government  lands  were  in 
market,  and  the  unsettled  condition  of  private  es- 
tates was  an  effectual  hindrance  to  prosperity. 
Until  the  commissioners  reported,  no  one  felt  any 
assurance    of  title,  and    their    report  showed    that 


Chap.  X.l 


LAND  TITLES.  243 


there  were  only  six  good  farm  titles  in  the  Ter- 
ritory. The  Governor  and  Chief  Justice  both 
went  to  Washington,  and  obtained  favorable  legis- 
lation. April  2 1  st,  1806,  the  Governor  and  Judges 
were  authorized  by  Congress  to  lay  out  a  town, 
including  the  old  town  of  Detroit  and  ten  thous^ 
and  acres  adjacent,  to  settle  all  private  claims  for 
lots,  and  to  convey  a  lot  of  fifty  feet  by  one  hun- 
dred to  every  person  over  seventeen  years  old 
owning  or  inhabiting  a  house  at  the  time  of  the 
fire.  The  remaining  land  was  to  be  sold  to  build 
a  court  house  and  jail.  Both  of  these  were  built 
many  years  thereafter,  and  the  court  house  became 
the  Territorial  and  State  Capitol,  until  the  seat  of 
government  was  removed  to  Lansing.  It  was 
then  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  a  union  school, 
and  is  now,  with  additions,  the  Detroit  High 
School. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1807,  an  act  of  Congress 
was  passed  granting  to  each  person,  or  the  grantees 
or  heirs  of  each  person,  who  possessed  and 
occupied  lands  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1796,  a 
title  to  such  lands,  not  exceeding  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  in  each  tract.  Subsequent  laws  were 
from  time  to  time  passed  giving  additional  grants 
and  pre-emptions  to  such  persons,  and  in  Macki- 
naw and  the  remoter  districts  fixing  the  date  of 
possession  at  July  first,  1812.  Most  of  these 
claims  had  already  been  presented  to  the  Land 
Commissioners  for  allowance,  as  held  under  color 
of  British,  French    and    Indian    titles.       The    lands 


244  BANK  OF  DETROIT.  [Chap.  X. 

outside  of  Detroit  were  not  managed  by  the 
Governor  and  Judges.  After  providing  for  all 
these  cases  there  were  adjacent  lands  extending 
back  about  three  miles  further  from  Detroit 
River,  which  might  have  been  put  into  the  market, 
but  were  not,  as  the  surveys  were  postponed. 

Much  discord  arose  in  the  meetings  of  the 
Governor  and  Judges,  in  their  new  functions  as  a 
land-board  for  Detroit  lands.  They  are  of  no 
interest  as  matters  of  history,  except  as  explain- 
ing how  the  various  Territorial  functionaries  be- 
came embroiled,  so  as  not  only  to  prevent  proper 
legislation,  but  also  to  impair  confidence  in  all 
of  them. 

Another  transaction  was  not  without  bitter 
fruits.  Early  in  1806,  Russel  Sturges  and  other 
Boston  capitalists  made  arrangements  to  organize 
a  bank  in  Detroit,  with  a  capital  of  $400,000, 
a  very  large  sum  in  those  days.  It  was  designed 
to  be  used  in  connection  with  their  fur-trade. 
Their  petition  to  the  Governor  and  Judges  was 
dated  early  in  the  spring,  and  they  not  only 
appointed  their  cashier,  but  built  their  bank,  before 
they  received  their  charter,  which  was  given  in 
September,  1806.  Judge  Woodward  was  made 
President  of  the  bank,  which  began  operations, 
and  issued  bills.  The  act  creating  it  was  dis- 
approved by  Congress,  in  March,  1807,  and  gave 
rise  to  very  severe  attacks  on  the  Governor  and 
Judges.  Judge  Woodward  was  threatened  with 
impeachment  for    this    and    other    misconduct,  and 


Chap.  X.]  DISCORDS  IN  THE  BOARD.  245 

Governor  Hull's  re-nomination  in  1808  was  op- 
posed, but  unsuccessfully.  On  the  23d  of  April, 
1808,  Judge  Witherell  was  appointed  judge  to 
succeed  Judge  Bates.  It  appears  that  after  'Bates' 
departure,  Woodward  and  Griffin  had  everything 
their  own  way,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  Gov- 
ernor, who  was  left  in  a  hopeless  minority ;  and 
that  they  used  their  power  with  some  insolence 
and  malice.  Judge  Witherell  was  as  firm  as 
Woodward,  but  much  more  quiet  in  his  ways. 
His  coming  gave  the  Governor  the  support  he 
needed,  as  well  as  the  suggestions  of  a  more 
masculine  intellect,  and  the  tables  were  turned. 
Henceforth,  upon  the  question  of  the  plan  and 
various  other  matters  of  difference,  the  absence  of 
any  one  of  the  four  sometimes  led  to  hostile 
legislation    by   the    opposing   majority    present. 

The  bank,  in  spite  of  the  action  of  Congress, 
continued  to  do  business.  In  September,  1808, 
when  Judge  Woodward  was  absent  in  Washington, 
Judge  Witherell  introduced  and  passed,  against 
Griffin's  opposition,  a  criminal  bill  of  various  pains 
and  penalties,  which,  among  other,  things,  punished 
unauthorized  banking.  This  ended  the  Bank  of 
Detroit,  but  was  never  forgiven  by  Judge  Wood- 
ward, who,  as  long  as  he  remained  on  the  bench, 
was  never  on  pleasant  terms  with  Judge  With- 
erell, and  they  never  exchanged  words,  if  they 
could  avoid  it,  except  officially. 

Much  feeling  is  said  to  have  been  roused  by 
the  course  of  Woodward  in   1806,  concerning  cer- 


246' 


SLAVES.  fCHAP.  X. 


tain  persons  convicted  of  kidnapping.  Some  Brit- 
ish deserters  were  captured  in  Detroit  by  British 
officers,  aided  by  one  or  more  American  officers, 
4and  the  offenders  were  tried  by  jury  and  sentenced 
to  fine  and  imprisonment.  Some  days  thereafter 
Woodward  changed  the  punishment  to  a  nominal 
fine  of  a  few  cents.  Why  this  was  done  does 
not  appear.  He  was  not  a  man  of  British  sym- 
pathies, and  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  many  years 
later,  expressed  himself  in  favor  of  a  heavier  pun- 
ishment for  such  cases  than  his  brethren  assent- 
ed to. 

In  1807  a  very  curious  case  arose  concerning 
slavery.  Mrs.  Catharine  Tucker  was  required,  upon 
habeas  corpus,  to  answer  for  the  detention  of 
Elizabeth  and  Scipio  Denison,  persons  of  color, 
and  she  justified  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
held  as  slaves  at  the  time  of  -the  surrender  of 
the  post  in  1796,  and  were  assured  to  her  under 
Jay's  Treaty,  in  spite  of  the  provision  against 
slavery  in  the  ordinance  of  1787.  Judge  Wood- 
ward gave  the  matter  a  very  elaborate  examina- 
tion, and  wrote  a  full  opinion  sustaining  her  right. 
The  case  was  decided  on  the  23d  of  September. 
A  few  days  after,  application  was  made  for  the 
arrest  and  delivery  of  some  Pawnee  and  mulatto 
slaves  who  had  escaped  from  their  masters,  Mr. 
Pattinson  and  Matthew  Elliott,  who  resided  in 
Canada.  In  this  case  the  decision  was  emphatic 
that  there  was  no  obligation  to  give  up  fugitives 
from    a    foreign  jurisdiction.      Thereupon    Lisette 


Chap.  X.J  INDIAN  TREATY.  247 

and  Scipio  went  over  the  river  into  Canada, 
where  the  same  doctrines  were  enforced,  and  took 
refuge  with  Mr.  Askin ;  and  they  were  for  a 
time  employed  in  the  family  of  Angus  Mackin- 
tosh. They  subsequently  came  back  and  were 
never  molested, — remaining  with  Colonel  Brush, 
Judge  Sibley  and  Major  Biddle,  most  of  their 
lives.  Lisette  accumulated  some  property.  The 
attempt  to  obtain  Mr.  Elliott's  servants  led  to 
a  disturbance.  His  agent  was  tarred  and  feath- 
ered, and  himself  treated  with  some  indignity. 

During  the  year  1807,  Governor  Hull  held  a 
council  at  Detroit  with  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas, 
Wyandots  and  Potawatamies,  and  a  treaty  was 
signed  on  the  17th  day  of  November,  whereby 
they  ceded  to  the  United  States  (excepting  some 
small  reserves)  the  country  in  the  southeast 
part  of  the  Territory,  bounded  west  by  the  prin- 
cipal meridian,  which  is  about  seventy-five  miles 
west  of  Detroit  River,  running  as  far  up  as  the 
latitude  of  the  present  Fort  Gratiot,  and  thence 
northeast  to  White  Rock  in  Lake  Huron.  This 
tract  coincides  very  nearly  with  the  land  pur- 
chased from  the  Indians  and  sold  by  Schieffhn 
and  others  to  Smith  in  1 797.  By  this  cession  a 
large  region  was  opened  and  made  subject  to 
survey  and  sale ;  but  the  surveys  were  postponed, 
and  there  was  no  more  land  to  be  bought  after 
the  treaty   than  before. 

No  doubt  a  chief  reason  for  not  hastening  the 
surveys  and  sales  of  lands  was  found  in  the  fear 


248  DETROIT  FORTIFIED.  [Chap.  X. 

of  Indian  troubles.  In  memorials  sent  to  protest 
against  Hull's  reappointment  in  1808,  he  is  charged 
with  timidity,  and  exciting  groundless  alarms  con- 
cerning Indian  attacks,  and  with  using  undignified 
means  to  conciliate  individual  Indians  who  should 
have  been  punished.  It  is  difficult  now  to  know 
how  much  he  was  censurable  for  these  alarms, 
but  their  open  expression  was  not  prudent.  They 
were  not  then,  though  they  were  soon  after,  shared 
by  others.  A  timid  bearing  has  always  encouraged 
hostilities  from  whites  and  Indians  both  ;  and  Gov- 
ernor Hull's  conduct  is  generally  regarded,  during 
his  administration,  as  characterized  by  alternate  fits 
of  activity  and  vacillation,  not  traceable  altogether 
to  want  of  courage  so  much  as  to  infirmity  of 
purpose.  He  at  any  rate  must  have  convinced 
the  War  Department  of  the  correctness  of  his 
suspicions,  as  in  1807  the  town  was  ordered  to  be 
stockaded;  and  accordingly  he  or  the  Secretary 
(for  accounts  differ)  ran  a  line  of  high  pickets, 
with  occasional  block  houses,  along  the  eastern 
bound  of  the  settlement,  including  the  Domain 
and  adjoining  houses,  as  far  north  as  the  street 
now  known  as  Michigan  avenue,  and  thence 
west  to  the  Cass  Farm  and  south  to  the  river, 
including  the  fort  and  all  public  and  private  build- 
ings. Where  the  stockade  crossed  Jefferson  Ave- 
nue, at  the  upper  end  of  the  Biddle  House. (then 
Governor  Hull's  own  mansion),  there  was  a  large 
block  house  with  artillery;  and  a  gate  contiguous 
to    the  old    citadel    stood   at    the  western    end  of 


Chap.  X.]  ARBITRARY  MEASURES.  249 

Jefferson  Avenue,  where  the  high  bluff  crossed  it, 
commanding  the  approaches  from  the  west. 
The  memorials  complain  not  only  that  this 
work  was  imperfect,  but  that  the  Governor  had, 
without  authority,  compelled  companies  of  militia 
to  labor  in  digging  trenches  and  planting  pickets, 
as  if  they  had  been  in  regular  pay  and  service. 
While  the  evident  share  of  Judge  Woodward  in 
getting  up  the  memorials  requires  the  use  of  care 
in  judging  of  the  correctness  of  the  criticism  of 
the  Governor's  acts,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that 
statements  of  specific  facts  are  unfounded ;  and 
his  stretch  of  vexatious  authority  over  the  militia 
in  some  matters  is  shown  by  his  own  statements. 
The  early  military  governors  had  been  too  famil- 
iar with  the  habits  of  the  British  commanders  be- 
fore the  Revolution,  to  be  as  careful  as  they  should 
have  been  concerning  popular  rights.  In  this  re- 
spect Governor  Hull  did  not  stand  alone,  but  such 
conduct  was  very  obnoxious  to  the  people  on  the 
frontier. 

The  Governor  also  incurred  universal  censure 
by  enrolling  a  separate  company  of  negro  militia 
composed  entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  of  recent 
fugitives  from  Canada,  who  were  not  native  citi- 
zens, and  could  not  then  become  naturalized.  The 
act  of  Congress  allowed  none  but  whites  to  be 
enrolled,  and  the  state  of  feeling  at  that  time  did 
not  authorize  such  a  violation  of  law. 

In  1808,  Judge  Woodward,  on  his  departure 
for  Washington,  laid    before  the  Legislative  Board 


250 


QUARRELS.  [Chap.  X. 


a  series  of  abusive  resolutions  and  charges  against 
the  Governor,  which  the  latter  was  unwise  enough 
to  reply  to  at  length ;  —  and  this  was  all  that 
Woodward  desired.  He  knew  very  w*ell  that  no 
such  resolutions  could  pass  without  his  own  vote, 
if  at  all.  This,  and  some  other  transactions,  seem 
to  indicate  that  the  Legislative  Board  (properly 
resembling  very  closely  a  privy  council)  had 
adopted  the  habit  of  holding  public  sessions,  and 
airing  its  dissensions  before  the  populace.  There 
is  no  other  means  of  accounting  for  the  ridiculous 
vaporing  and  pomposity  of  the  Chief  Justice,  and 
his  indecent  strictures  upon  his  associates,  nor  for 
the  counter-blasts,  more  decent  and  dignified,  but 
not  judicious,  which  came  from  his  antagonists. 
There  was  a  general  spirit  of  pugnacity  manifest 
at  their  meetings. 

But  Woodward's  conduct  at  times  reached 
such  a  pitch  as  to  be  beyond  excuse.  Having 
on  one  occasion  made  an  order  in  a  cause  which 
created  some  feeling,  Major  John  Whipple, 
(father  of  the  chief  justice  of  that  name),  meeting 
him  in  the  street,  used  some  severe  and  opprobri- 
ous language.  Judge  Woodward  undertook  to 
treat  this  as  a  contempt  of  court,  and  imposed  a 
fine.  Some  months  afterwards,  in  February,  1809, 
Governor  Hull  pardoned  the  offence,  as  he  had  a 
right,  and  as  was  perhaps  required  in  common 
justice.      This  led  afterwards  to  difficulty. 

The  district  courts,  first  created  in  1805,  had 
been  modified  by  a    statute    of   1807,    which   gave 


Chap.  X.]  WOODWARD'S  COURSE.  251 

them  some  of  the  financial  and  administrative 
duties  generally  performed  by  the  quarter-sessions 
or  county  boards,  and  provided  that  they  should 
be  held  by  a  chief  justice  and  two  associates  "  of 
integrity,  experience  and  legal'  knowledge,"  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor.  George  McDougall  was 
first  chief  justice,  and  James  Abbott  and  Jacob 
Visger1  associates.  These  gentlemen  were  not 
admitted  attorneys  or  counsellors,  but  were  fairly 
educated  and  judicious  men,  fully  competent  for 
their  duties.  In  August,  1809,  Major  Whipple 
was  appointed  associate  judge  of  this  court  for 
the  District  of  Detroit  and  Erie.  In  the  latter 
part  of  September,  Judge  Woodward,  treating 
this  as  a  personal  slight,  procured  a  grand  jury 
to  present  the  Governor  as  having  grantee!  an 
illegal  pardon ;  and  the  same  subservient  body, 
doubtless  in  response  to  suggestion,  recommended 
the  enforcement  of  the  fine,  which  Woodward 
carried  out  by  process  against  Major  Whipple. 
While  this  presents  the  chief  justice  in  a  very 
disgraceful  light,  it  indicates  great  weakness  in  a 
governor  who  year  after  year  submitted  to  such 
insults  and  invasions  of  right,  without  seeking  any 
remedy  beyond  proclamations  and  counter  resolves. 
The  same  grand  jury  was  induced  not  only  to 
present  the  Governor,  but  also  Judge  Witherell, 
for  unwise  legislation,  and  to  declare  their  laws 
passed  in  Woodward's   absence    as    "  unnecessary, 


1  The  writer  first  read  Blackstone  in   what   had   been   Judge   Visger's 
copy  of  that  author,  now  in  his  possession. 


252  JUDGE  WOODWARD.  [Chap.  X. 

nugatory  and  a  nuisance."  Fortified  by  this  pro- 
found legal  authority,  Woodward  and  his  echo 
Griffin,  a  few  days  after,  declared  the  whole  body 
of  laws  passed  in  Woodward's  absence  invalid, 
because  not  signed  by  the  individual  names  of 
the  members  of  the  board,  instead  of  by  the 
chairman  and  secretary.  Sometimes  the  grand 
jury  presented  Woodward;  but  their  action  in  such 
case  was  not  deemed  so  correct. 

That  conduct  like  this  should  effectually 
destroy  all  the  moral  force  of  authority  was 
inevitable.  The  peculiarities  of  Judge  Woodward 
were  such  as  almost  to  render  it  doubtful  at 
times  whether  he  was  not  something  more  than 
eccentric;  while  on  the  other  hand  his  conduct 
was  usually  reasonable  and  becoming,  when  he 
was  in  a  position  where  he  was  not  tempted  to 
act  insolently,  or  where  there  were  strong  reasons 
of  policy.  During  the  war  of  1812,  he  was 
intrepid  and  active  as  well  as  useful  in  mediat- 
ing with  the  British  authorities,  and  was  long  the 
only  person  who  effectually  interposed  to  protect 
the  American  citizens  in  Detroit,  and  to  urge 
redress  for  their  injuries  elsewhere.  Under 
General  Cass's  administration,  while  often  enough 
provoking  resentment  from  private  and  official 
individuals,  he  did  not  indulge  in  such  conduct  in 
the  board  or  elsewhere  as  he  used  towards  Hull, 
against  whom  he  had  a  peculiar  antipathy.  On 
the  bench,  however,  the  recollections  of  business 
men  indicate  that  there  could  not  have  been    any 


Chap.  X.]  JUDGE  WOODWARD.  253 

thorough  improvement  in  harmony,  and  both  he 
and  Griffin  were  finally  legislated  out  of  office. 
His  personal  habits  were  slovenly,  and  his  room 
was  conspicuous  for  disorder.  His  worst  habit, 
however,  was  that  sort  of  audacious  impudence 
which,  under  the  name  of  eccentricity,  has  some- 
times characterized  men  of  mark,  and  even  made 
them  to  be  imagined  greater  than  if  they  had 
behaved  themselves  with  more  civility.  John 
Randolph  was  an  instance  of  this  kind. 

In  the  early  Territorial  days  it  had  not  become 
so  discreditable  as  it  has  been  in  our  time  for 
persons  insulted  to  use  what  Blackstone  would  have 
classed  among  "  remedies  by  act  of  the  party ;" 
and  Judge  Woodward  often  provoked,  and  some- 
times received  this  treatment,  while  no  doubt  he 
much  oftener  deserved  it.  If  the  Governor  had 
ever  forgotten  his  dignity  in  this  way,  instead  of 
in  less  effective  conduct,  he  might  perhaps  have 
secured  peace,  and  had  better  fortune.  But 
Woodward,  who  never  respected  him,  had  dis- 
covered his  weak  points,  and  that  he  was  more 
prompt  in  asserting  his  rights  than  in  defending 
them,  and  so  took  a  malicious  pleasure  in  aggra- 
vating him.  But  beyond  this,  the  Chief  Justice 
regarded  himself  as  the  only  man  in  the  Territory 
whose  views  should  pass  current  without  question ; 
and  enforced  this  doctrine  when  he  could. 

These  quarrels  had  a  bad  effect  on  the  public 
peace.  Each  of  the  contending  powers  had  pre- 
rogatives which  made  it  to  the  interest  of  various 


254  SOCIAL  CONDITION.  [Chap.  X. 

persons  to  conciliate  him.  Each  had,  therefore, 
his  greater  and  lesser  satellites,  and  among-  them 
personal  encounters  were  common.  Whether  the 
town  was  more  turbulent  than  other  border  towns 
at  that  period  may  be  doubted.  But  the  offend- 
ers were  oftener  brought  before  the  courts,  and 
were  generally  men  of  standing. 

The  social  condition  of  the  town  was  good. 
It  had  an  unusual  proportion  of  educated  and 
refined  people,  and  a  fair  general  standard  of  edu- 
cation. Unfortunately  the  earliest  school  law, 
passed  in  1809,  was  never  printed,  and  has  dis- 
appeared. There  was  no  permanent  newspaper 
press  until  181 7,  although  in  1809  a  small  paper 
was  published  a  little  while.  We  have  no  full 
knowledge  of  the  number  or  condition  of  schools. 
But  an  examination  of  our  public  records  shows 
that  a  very  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants,  both 
French  and  English,  had  at  least  an  ordinary  edu- 
cation. Their  papers  and  signatures  show  a  habit 
of  using  the  pen,  and  their  accounts  are  neatly 
and  accurately  kept.  In  spelling  French  words 
there  are  tokens  that  much  was  taught  by  the  ear 
instead  of  the  'eye,  but  the  orthography  of  that 
language  was  not  perfectly  followed  by  many 
very  distinguished  men  under  the  French  regime, 
and  the  blunders  found  occasionally  in  our  French 
papers  are  no  worse  than  abound  in  public  docu- 
ments. Napoleon  has  credit  for  similar  mistakes ; 
and  in  our  own  language  fifty  years  ago  (if  not 
to-day)   inaccurate  spelling   was    not    proof  of  ig- 


Chap.  X.]  FATHER  RICHARD.  255 

norance.  In  most  garrisons  where  there  were 
children  some  pains  were  taken  to  teach  them. 
We  know  from  the  character  of  the  early  immi- 
grants and  natives  of  Detroit  that  they  would  not 
allow  their  children  to  lack  education ;  and  so  far 
as  we  have  facts  they  all  tend  to  prove  this.  In 
1798  Father  Gabriel  Richard,  a  priest  of  the  Or- 
der of  St.  Sulpice,  first  came  as  resident  pastor 
of  the  Catholic  church  of  St.  Anne.  His  tall  and 
sepulchral  figure  was  familiar  to  every  one  during 
the  long  period  during  which  he  filled  his  sacred 
missiop.  He  was  not  only  a  man  of  elegant 
learning,  but  of  excellent  common  sense,  and  a 
very  public-spirited  citizen.  He  encouraged  edu- 
cation in  every  way,  not  only  by  organizing  and 
patronizing  schools  for  the  immediate  training  of 
his  own  people,  but  by  favoring  all  other  proper 
schemes  for  general  intelligence.  He  brought  to 
Detroit  the  earliest  printing-press  that  was  known 
in  the  Territory,  and  in  1809  published  a  small 
gazette  called  the  "Michigan  Essay,  or  Impartial 
Observer."  He  also  compiled  and  published  some 
religious  and  educational  works  for  his  own  flock, 
and  some  selections  from  French  authors  for  read- 
ing. He  was  an  early  officer  of  the  University, 
and  a  teacher  or  professor  in  it.  His  acquaint- 
ance was  prized  among  Protestants  as  well  as 
Catholics.  His  quaint  humor  and  shrewd  sense, 
in  no  way  weakened  by  his  imperfect  pronuncia- 
tion of  English,  are  pleasantly  remembered  by  all 
who  had  the  fortune  to  know  him;    while  his  brief 


256 


SCHOOLS.  TChap.  X. 


prayer  for  the  Legislature,  that  they  might  make 
laws  for  the  people  and  not  for  themselves,  was 
a  very  comprehensive  summary  of  sound  political 
philosophy. 

The  researches  of  some  of  our  citizens  have 
led  to  the  discovery  of  several  names  of  teachers 
who  flourished  before  the  days  of  newspapers, 
although  no  doubt  many  more  have  been  forgotten. 
The  Reverend  David  Bacon  (father  of  Dr.  Leo- 
nard Bacon)  taught  a  school  at  Detroit  in  1802. 
Miss  Elizabeth  Williams,  (daughter  of  Thomas 
Williams  before  mentioned),  and  her  cousifi  Miss 
Angelique  Campau,  taught  schools  as  early  as 
1808,  and  the  school  of  the  former  and  of  her 
associates  and  successors  was  continued  many 
years.  From  181 2  to  1818  a  classical  school  was 
kept  up  by  Mr.  Payne  and  Reverend  John 
Monteith.  In  181 6  a  common  school  on  the  New 
England  plan  was  opened  under  Mr.  Danforth. 
After  the  organization  of  the  University,  in  181 7 
or  1818,  teachers  were  abundant,  and  schools 
thorough  and  excellent,  and  more  than  one  of 
these  teachers  became  eminent  in  civil  and  military 
life.  Teaching  was  a  common  occupation  among 
ambitious  men  preparing  for   their   future    career. 

Not  very  long  after  Michigan  Territory  was 
organized,  the  Indians  began  to  complain  of  the 
advance  of  the  white  men,  and  that  they  had 
signed  treaties  which  they  did  not  understand. 
No  encroachment  had  been  made  on  the  Indians 
in    Michigan,    and    the    Indians     there     had     not 


Chap.  X.J      .  INDIAN   DISCONTENT. 


257 


generally  preceded  the  white  men  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  State.  But  it  was  true  enough  that 
their  future  was  doubtful,  unless  they  learned 
some  of  the  arts  of  civilization.  Their  discontent, 
however,  if  it  originated  with  themselves,  was 
chiefly  due  to  the  promptings  of  others.  The 
Northwest  Company  was  deeply  interested  in 
keeping  the  country  a  wilderness,  and  the  control 
of  it  was  earnestly  coveted  by  British  interests. 
From  all  parts  of  the  Indian  country  reports  came 
that  Elliott,  the  agent  at  Maiden,  was  tampering 
with  the  tribes.  Their  annual  presents  were  con- 
tinued on  a  liberal  scale,  and  they  received  an 
extra  share  of  guns  and  munitions  of  war.  Even 
as  early  as  1807  and  1808,  there  were  indications 
of  some  mysterious  plan  of  mischief.  The  wonder- 
ful organizing  power  of  Pontiac  had  long  before 
shown  the  value  of  unity  to  the  Indians,  and  tribes 
that  had  once  been  hostile  were  found  seeking 
strength  in  brotherhood.  The  lesson  was  not  for- 
gotten; and  in  all  the  early  treaties  made  by  the 
United  States  with  the  Indians  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, it  was  found  that  the  tribes  had  become 
confederated,  and  that  they  had  counsellors  who 
were  not  Indians.  In  1784,  and  thereafter,  Brant 
appeared  as  the  great  centralizing  agent;  and  in 
1794  and  1795,  in  Wayne's  Campaigns,  and  at  the 
Treaty  of  Greenville,  it  was  found  that  although 
there  was  much*  tribal  independence,  there  was 
nevertheless  a  very  general  union,  and  this  was 
influenced  chiefly  from  Maiden  by  McKee  and 
Elliott,  through  various  chiefs. 


258  TECUMSEH  AND  THE   PROPHET.  [Chap.  X. 

The  new  representative  of  this  unifying  policy 
was  Tecumseh,  a  chief  of  the  Shawanoes,  or  Shaw- 
nees,  a  body  of  whom,  after  the  Treaty  of  Green- 
ville, had  established  themselves  by  permission  of 
the  Potawatamies  and  Kickapoos  on  the  Tippe- 
canoe River — a  branch  of  the  upper  Wabash. 
This  chief  was  a  wise  and  statesmanlike  charac- 
ter, and  his  ambitions  were  noble.  He  desired  to 
advance  the  prosperity  of  the  Indians  by  bring- 
ing them  into  unity  and  civilization.  The  Iroquois 
had  once  advanced  far  in  that  direction.  The 
Wyandots,  or  Hurons,  were  intelligent  and  indus- 
trious. Some  of  the  southern  tribes,  especially 
the  Cherokees,  had  begun  the  work  which  still 
continues  as  a  development  of  progress  made 
under  very  great  difficulties. 

Tecumseh  knew  the  danger  of  contact  with 
the  whites,  and  he  also  knew  the  advantages  of 
Michigan  and  the  adjacent  country  for  Indian  set- 
tlement. No  country  on  the  continent  was  better 
adapted  for  his  confederacy.  The  annual  subsi- 
dies of  the  British  Government  and  the  blandish- 
ments of  the  Maiden  agency  had  done  much  to 
retain  the  old  influence,  and  the  sagacious  chief 
was  not  left  in  doubt  concerning  the  approval  of 
his  scheme  by  his  Canadian  friends.  The  letters 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  very  soon  showed 
that  he  had  come  to  a  good  understanding  with 
them,  and  that  he  was  working  under  their  inspira- 
tion. In.  1808  and  1809,  the  scheme  became  more 
apparent.       His     brother,    the     Prophet,    from    a 


Chap.  X.]  TECUMSEH   AND   THE   PROPHET.  259 

dreamer  of  dreams  and  seer  of  visions,  became 
invested  with  the  character  of  an  inspired  teacher, 
and  so  worked  upon  the  superstition  of  the  Indi- 
ans that  he  was  looked  upon  by  tribes  near  and 
remote  with  reverence  and  fear.  Like  other  such 
characters,  he  no  doubt  became  more  or  less  de- 
ceived by  his  own  fanaticism ;  and  Tecumseh,  from 
policy  or  superstition,  or  both,  also  assumed  to  be 
a  believer,  although  he  probably  contrived  to  shape 
the  inspirations  very  much  as  he  chose.  He  was 
not  so  much  of  a  fanatic  as  to  lose  his  diplomatic 
craft,  for  he  contrived  for  a  time  to  persuade 
General  Harrison  (who  was  a  very  keen  observer) 
that  his  schemes  were  all  for  the  improvement 
of  the  Indians,  and  were  not  aimed  against  the 
whites;  and  no  doubt  such  was  his  principal  de- 
sign, if  it  could  have  been  compatible  with  white 
settlements. 

The  purposes  of  Tecumseh  became  known  to 
the  Governor  General  of  Canada,  and  he  warned 
our  government  of  them.  It  has  generally  been 
conceded  that  while  Sir  James  Craig  desired  to 
dismember  the  union,  he  did  not  wish  to  turn 
loose  the  savages  upon  the  American  settlements. 
He  prohibited  the  Maiden  agency  from  furnishing 
arms  to  the  Indians.  He  expected  rather  to  win 
over  a  part  of  the  States  by  diplomacy.  He  sent 
John  Henry  into^  New  England  for  that  purpose, 
and  had  a  notion  that  the  Union  was  about  to 
drop  asunder.  He,  at  least,  may  be  acquitted  of 
any    complicity    with    Tecumseh,  and    it    is    quite 


260  INTRIGUES.      HOSTILITIES.  [Chap.  X. 

probable  that  the  Indian  agents,  while  fomenting 
these  troubles,  and  endeavoring  to  avenge  some 
personal  grievances,  were  acting  independently,  and 
in  confidence  that  they  would  ultimately  be  re- 
warded. There  is  much  mystery  about  the  whole 
relations  with  Great  Britain  at  this  time.  The 
British  Minister  at  Washington  professed  ignor- 
ance of  Henry's  mission,  and  claimed  that  he  had 
no  official  relations  with  the  Governor  General.  The 
attack  on  the  Chesapeake,  made  in  1807,  was  only 
apologized  for  in  1 811,  when  the  accumulation  of 
other  grievances  had  made  war  inevitable.  Perhaps 
it  is. not  entirely  discreditable  that  Great  Britain 
has  been  very  forgiving  to  officers  who  have  ex- 
ceeded instructions,  in  order  to  do  what  they 
thought  she  would  be  glad  to  see  done.  In  those 
days  it  was  certainly  not  deemed  an  unpardon- 
able sin  to  try  experiments  on  the  United  States. 

The  time  at  last  came  when  Tecumseh's.  plans 
could  no  longer  be  concealed.  He  failed  in  get- 
ting control  of  many  of  the  Indians  on  the  bor- 
der; and  while  some  of  them  were  friendly  to  him 
and  to  the  English,  the  most  of  the  Wyandots, 
Delawares,  Senecas,  and  even  the  Shawanoes,  re- 
mained friendly  to  the  United  States.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  18 1 1,  General  Harrison  began  a  move- 
ment upon  the  hostile  confederacy,  and  on  the  7th 
of  November  he  fought  the  celebrated  battle  of 
Tippecanoe,  where  the  Prophet  and  his  warriors 
were  routed,  and  the  peace  of  that  region  was 
secured  till   after    Hull's    delays    had    enabled   the 


Chap.  X.]  HULL'S   DEPARTURE. 


261 


British  to  become  aggressive,  and  to  use  the  In- 
dians effectively.  Tecumseh  betook  himself  to 
Maiden,  and  thereafter  his  attachments  were  un- 
concealed. He  was  well  received  and  much  fa- 
vored, and  obtained  a  high  rank  in  the  army. 

The  Michigan  settlements  could  make  no  head- 
way under  such  circumstances,  and  the  local  affairs 
of  the  Territory  remained  in  the  same  state  of 
discord. 

Governor  Hull  left  for  Washington  before  he 
heard  of  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  While  in  that 
city  he  made  some  useful  suggestions  concerning 
the  possession  of  the  lakes  by  American  vessels. 
His  earlier  advice  on  this  subject  had  been  ju- 
dicious, and  at  this  time,  on  the  strength  of  his 
Revolutionary  merits,  he  was  well  thought  of  as 
a  military  officer.  He  had  never  commanded 
any  large  force,  nor  performed  any  striking  de- 
tached service  on  a  large  scale.  While  some 
of  the  more  distinguished  and  successful  soldiers 
who  afterwards  had  reason  to  complain  of  him 
became  suspicious  of  his  fitness  in  the  earliest 
days  of  his  command,  he  left  Washington  for  the 
west  in  good  general  repute. 

His  civil  administration  practically  terminated 
when  he  left  for  the  seat  of  government.  But 
there  was  one  last  civil  function  performed  in 
the  sad  interval  .between  his  return  from  Canada 
and  the  surrender  which  followed  it,  indicating  a 
dangerous  omission  in  the  previous  legislation 
of  the    Territory.     On  the    13th   of  August,  181 2, 


262  old  Laws  abolished.  [Chap.  x. 

a    bill    was    passed    forbidding   the    sale    of  intoxi- 
cating   liquor   to    the    Indians. 

There  are  not  many  peculiar  features  in  the 
laws  of  the  first  Territorial  period,  but  some  fur- 
ther reference  is  necessary  to  a  few  of  them. 

The  want  of  a  press,  and  the  difficulty  which 
was  found  in  determining  the  legal  condition  of 
the  country,  led  in  1810  to  a  very  wise  measure, 
whereby  all  the  French  laws  and  customs,  and 
all  English  and  Canadian  statutes,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  Northwest  Territory  and  Indiana,  were 
abolished.  This  left  the  people  subject  only  to 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  the  Territorial 
statutes,  and  the  general  rules  of  the  common 
law. 

No  counties  were  laid  out  during  the  time 
of  General  Hull.  The  districts  were  the  only  di- 
visions, and  the  district  judges  acted  as  local  ad- 
ministrators. Although  there  were  highway  com- 
missioners, there  were  few  roads,  and  those  either 
in  Detroit  or  up  and  down  the  Detroit  River. 
There  was  no  access  to  the  interior  except  by 
streams  or  Indian  trails. 

The  money  then  in  circulation  was  mostly 
Spanish  dollars,  halves,  quarters,  pistareens,  and 
pieces  of  twelve  and  a  half,  and  six  and  a  quarter 
cents.  In  the  absence  of  small  coin  the  larger 
coins  were  cut  into  quarters  and  eighths.  Accounts 
were  kept  in  York  currency,  of  two  dollars  and  a 
half  to  the  pound,  or  twelve  and  a  half  cents  to 
the  shilling. 


Chap.  X.]  LEGAL  AFFAIRS.  263 

Several  of  the  early  tax  laws  were  never 
printed,  and  are  lost,  and  there  is  no  index  to 
their  contents.  It  seems,  however,  that  revenue 
was  raised  almost  entirely  from  capitation  taxes  of 
one  dollar  on  each  male  over  sixteen  years,  specific 
taxes  on  dogs,  horses,  asses  and  mules,  and  upon 
vehicles,  and  taxes  and  license  fees  on  various 
occupations.  The  tax  on  dogs  was  ingeniously 
devised.  It  assessed  fifty  cents  on  -a  dog  it  only 
one  was  owned,  one  dollar  for  the  second,  and 
a  dollar  and  a  half  for  each  beyond  two.  The 
license  law  for  liquor  selling  punished  with  se- 
verity every  dealer  who  allowed  drunkenness  or 
noise  on  his  premises,  in-doors  or  without.  It 
seems  that  the  deputy  marshal,  who  was  jailor, 
had  been  charged  a  full  tavern  license;  as  a  law 
was  passed  requiring  him  to  pay  but  one  dol- 
lar, instead  of  the  greater  sum,  for  the  privilege  of 
entertaining    his    involuntary  guests. 

The  district  courts  were  abolished  in  1810, 
and  there  appears  a  hiatus  for  some  years  in 
the  published  laws,  as  to  compulsory  jurisdiction 
over  the  cases  they  had  dealt  with.  Probably 
they  were  remitted  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Par- 
ties in  the  district  courts  could  waive  a  jury. 
On  the  other  hand,  cases  tried  there  by  jury  could 
be  appealed  for  a  new  jury  trial  in  the  Supreme 
Court — a  practice  which  afterwards,  under  a  some- 
what modified  system, 'was  found  oppressive.  Tes- 
timony in  equity  cases  could  be  taken  in  open 
court,  if  desired.  This  was  allowed  in  the  United 
States  courts  by  the  early  judiciary  act. 


264  BURR'S   CONSPIRACY.  TChap.  X. 

On  the  1,9th  day  of  January,  181 1,  Judge  Wood- 
ward appeared  in  the  legislative  board  clad  in  a 
suit  of  American  cloth,  (as  the  record  carefully 
recites),  and  introduced  resolutions  in  favor  of 
American  industry.  This  was  no  doubt  meant  for 
the  audience.  It  is  not  reported  what  effect  it 
produced,  at  home  or  abroad. 

In  the  early  part  of  1807,  on  the  23d  day  of 
January,  a  law'  was  passed  which  seems  to  have 
been  in  some  way  connected  with  Burr's  conspir- 
acy, but  which  is  not  explained.  It  is  a  very 
elaborate  and  carefully  framed  statute  to  prevent 
and  punish  acts  hostile  to  the  peace  of  the 
United  States,  reaching  all  attempts  and  incipient 
preparations  by  land  or  water,  authorizing  the  sei- 
zure of  persons,  arms,  supplies  and  boats  or  ves- 
sels, and  giving  unusual  powers  to  call  out  forces, 
and  punishing  with  great  severity  military  officers 
neglecting  or  refusing  to  respond. 

It  is  known  that  Mr.  Jefferson  received  infor- 
mation in  October,  1806,  which  excited  his  sus- 
picions against  Burr,  and  that  he  notified  some  of 
the  western  governors  to  be  on  their  guard.  In 
November,  Colonel  Daviess  was  foiled  in  an  at- 
tempt to  have  Burr  held  to  bail  in  Kentucky ; 
but  the  Ohio  Legislature,  before  the  middle  of 
December,  passed  an  act  from  which  ours  was 
copied.  Whether  there  were  any  suspicious 
movements  in  this  region,  or  whether  the  act  was 
passed  merely  from  abundant  caution,  is    now  un- 


Chap,  x.i  war.  265 

known.     The  news  of  Burr's  arrest  could  not  have 
reached    Detroit    for  some    time  after  its  passage. 

The  war  of  1812  and  its  consequences  made 
a  sorrowful  ending  to  a  period  of  no  political 
progress,  and  which  was  not  an  auspicious  open- 
ing to  our  public  career. 


CHAPTER     XI. 

.    GOVERNOR    HULL'S    MILITARY    ADMINISTRATION. 

The  discussion  of  the  events  of  the  War  of 
1812  in  a  purely  military  point  of  view,  is  not 
within  the  purpose  of  this  sketch,  and  not  within 
the  writer's  skill.  But  they  were  events  of  such 
great  political  and  social  importance  to  Michigan 
that  an  outline  of  them  is  necessary.  This  involves 
unavoidably  a  reference  to  the  surrender  of  Detroit. 
Upon  this,  whatever  may  have  been  the  laudable 
desire  of  personal  friends  and  affectionate  relatives 
to  remove  obloquy  from  an  officer  of  very  kind 
heart  and  many  good  qualities,  there  has  been  a 
substantial  agreement  among  military  men,  and 
no  appreciable  difference  of  opinion  among  the 
citizens  and  officers  who  had  most  reason  to 
understand  and  observe  the  circumstances.  The 
details  of  the  war,  and  of  this  most  disgraceful 
and  lamentable  occurrence  in  it,  have  been  made 
familiar  by  many  historians,  and  given  in  the  Field 
Book  of  the  War  of  181 2,  with  much  fullness  as 
well  as  with  general  accuracy,  by  Mr.  Lossing, 
who  has  done  so  much  with  pen  and  pencil  to 
perpetuate  our  military  history.  No  attempt  will 
be  made  to  go  into  these  particulars  at  length. 


Chap.  XI.J  DELAYS  AND  MISTAKES.  267 

The  conduct  of  the  War  Department  of  the 
United  States  in  delaying  important  preparations, 
and  in  not  using  greater  diligence  in  sending  out 
knowledge  of  the  declaration  of  war,  was  very 
reprehensible.  And  so  far  as  it  really  interfered 
with  any  military  successes,  the  excuse  should  be, 
and  has  been,  allowed  to  all  officers  and  others 
who  did  their  best.  But  it  is  also  no  more  than 
just  and  reasonable  to  discard  from  allowance  any 
difficulties  or  dangers,  which,  although  they  might 
have  been  possible,  either  had  no  effect  upon 
results  or  were  not  in  fact  existing ;  and  when 
existing,  were  not  of  such  a  character  that  at  the 
time  any  one  should  have  acted,  or  did  rationally 
act  upon  them.  The  delays  and  difficulties  were 
not  confined  to  American  movements  and  prepara- 
tions ;  and  the  antecedent  fears  of  some  wise  men 
and  good  officers  at  a  distance,  concerning  the 
precise  nature  of  perils  on  the  frontier,  would 
not  all  have  been  entertained  had  they  been  on 
the  spot,  and  known  the  condition  of  affairs  on 
both  sides  of  the  line. 

There  was  opposition  to  the  declaration  of  war, 
and  of  course  it  was  among  the  possibilities  that 
it  would  not  be  made.  It  appears  from  various 
sources,  and  especially  from  those  brought  to 
light  in  General  Hull's  behalf,  that  he  was  opposed 
to  declaring  it  at  that  time,  and  especially  opposed 
to  it  so  early,  as  endangering  his  civil  jurisdiction 
and  the  people  living  under  it.  He  claims  also 
to  have  been  opposed  to  the  invasion    of  Canada 


268  HULL'S  VIEWS. 


[Chap.  XI 


(although  his  previous  letter  may  bear  a  different 
construction)  on  similar  grounds,  and  for  the  reason 
that  he  regarded  it  as  too  strong  to  be  overcome 
by  the  American  forces,  and  as  likely  to  be 
dangerously  aggressive  in  return.  He  was  re- 
luctant to  accept  a  military  command,  not  because 
of  any  doubt  of  his  own  ability,  but  as  it  now 
appears  for  the  reason,  among  others,  that  it 
might  involve  an  expectation  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  that  he  would  attempt  to  invade 
Canada;  while  he  saw  fit  to  think  it  his  paramount 
duty  not  only  to  look  chiefly  to  the  interests  of 
the  Michigan  settlements,  but  to  put  his  private 
judgment  on  this  policy  against  all  other  consider- 
ations, and  carry  it  out  at  all  events.  No  one  can 
read  his  own  defence,  or  the  undisputed  facts  of 
history,  without  seeing  that  he  claims  credit  for 
having  been  constantly  moved  by  this  sentiment. 
He  was  acquitted  on  the  charges  of  treason.  It 
was  not  believed  he  meant  to  deliberately  injure 
or  betray  his  country.  But  while  free  from  that 
design,  which  would  have  made  his  memory  as 
black  as  Arnold's,  he  was  not,  if  we  accept  his 
own  vindication  of  himself,  free  from  that  fault, 
which,  though  not  so  disgraceful  morally,  is  not 
much  less  dangerous,  and  which  has  been  the 
destruction  of  many  promising  reputations,  of 
imagining  that  military  officers  have  a  right  to 
determine  the  policy  of  their  government,  and  are 
only  bound  to  carry  out  such  measures  as  they 
deem  expedient.     An  officer  who  prophesied  failure 


Chap.  XI.J  HULL'S  QUALITIES  269 

before  war  was  declared,  unless  his  views  were 
accepted,  and  whose  anterior  views,  as  to  the 
means  of  preventing  mishap,  were  not  carried  out 
by  Congress  or  the  War  Department,  was  cer- 
tainly in  danger  of  fulfilling  his  prophecies,  and  of 
convincing  himself  that  the  failure  was  inevitable. 
If  Hull  was  really  as  frank  in  his  prophecies  to 
the  War  Department  before  his  appointment,  as 
he  was  ingenious  in  finding  out  afterwards  rea- 
sons why  he  ought  to  have  failed,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  his  selection,  reluctant  or  unre- 
luctant,  was  one  of  the  worst  faults  that  could 
have  been  charged  against  that  office.  But  this 
is  hardly  credible.  At  any  rate  it  was  not  known 
to  the  public,  and  is  very  doubtful  in  fact.  The 
General  had  a  reputation  for  bravery  in  the 
Revolution  that  was  honestly  earned.  The  miser- 
able squabbles  at  Detroit  had  not  become  so  far 
known  outside  that  any  one  had  discovered  his 
personal  foibles  and  infirmity  of  purpose;  and  very 
good  soldiers  have  had  weak  points,  and  been  led 
into  ridiculous  positions  by  such  annoyances,  with- 
out losing  their  military  qualities.  The  selection, 
so  far  as  we  can  now  see,  was  justified  by  exist- 
ing appearances.  With  the  aid  of  subsequent 
events  to  suggest  a  full  inquiry,  we  can  now,  with 
that  ex  post  facto  wisdom,  which  no  one  then  could 
be  expected  to  possess,  easily  see  that  the  indecision 
and  readiness  to  avoid  trouble  which  led  him  into 
so  much  mischief,  and  his  fussy  attempts  to  per- 
suade others  and  himself  that  he  had  some  energy, 


270  HULL'S  ANTECEDENTS.  [Chap.  XI 

had  not  been  of  entirely  new  origin,  although  ad- 
vancing years  had  made  it  easier  to  yield  to  them 
and  harder  to  resist  them.  He  had  never,  during 
his  Revolutionary  career,  held  command  of  an 
army,  or  any  command  of  any  great  responsibility, 
or  one  which  called  for  much  more  than  personal 
bravery  and  devotion,  which  he  certainly  had  shown. 
He  had  been  sent  on  two  missions  to  Canada, 
one  to  General  Haldimand,  to  seek  the  delivery 
of  the  posts,  in  i  784,  and  one  to  Governor  Simcoe, 
during  the  pendency  of  Jay's  negotiations,  to  ar- 
range for  the  access  of  commissioners  to  the 
western  Indians  in  our  Territory.  In  the  former 
he  accomplished  nothing.  In  the  latter  he  was 
certainly  evaded  and  misled,  by  the  address  of 
Simcoe,  and  showed  very  little  sagacity.  In  both 
he  had  talked  with  vigor  and  spirit,  and  in  both 
he  had  been  easily  satisfied.  The  British  gover- 
nors had  resorted  to  much  personal  flattery  and 
attention,  which  he  greatly  appreciated,  and  prob- 
ably produced  some  effect  on  his  judgment  by  so 
doing.  In  the  steps  which  led  to  the  final  sur- 
render, General  Brock  deliberately  and  understand- 
ingly  calculated  on  the  result,  and  worked  on  his 
fears  with  a  confidence  which  would  have  utterly 
destroyed  the  British  expedition,  if  any  one  else 
had  succeeded  to,  or  assumed  command.  It  is  not 
indeed,  to  General  Hull's  discredit,  that  his  char- 
acter was  open  enough  to  enable  those  who  were 
dealing  with  him  to  discern  his  defects.  And  they 
were  of  that  character  which  are  very  seldom 
recognized  by  their  possessor. 


Chai\  XI.]  DECLARATION   OF   WAR. 


271 


The  war  was  declared  on  the  18th  of  June, 
1 812.  News  of  it  should  have  reached  General 
Hull  several  days  earlier  than  it  did;  and,  as  he 
received  one  communication  of  that  date  from 
Washington,  written  earlier  in  the  day,  by  express 
on  the  24th,  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  same 
diligence  should  have  informed  him  on  that  day, 
or  the  next,  of  the  declaration.  News  reached 
Maiden  on  the  30th  of  June.  It  reached  Hull, 
near  the  River  Raisin,  on  the  2nd  of  July.  As 
declarations  of  war  are  not  made  in  a  corner, 
and  as  the  British  would  not  have  been  foolish 
enough  to  have  no  means  of  immediate  knowl- 
edge at  Washington,  there  was  no  reason  why 
the  British  post  should  not  have  been  informed 
as  early  as  any  Americans  near  by.  Maiden  was 
practically  nearer  Cleveland,  where  Hull's  dispatch 
was  sent  from,  than  Hull  himself  was.  But  there 
was  equally  no  reason  why  every  exertion  should 
not  have  been  made  to  inform  the  Americans. 
The  fall  of  Mackinaw  was  due  directly  to  the 
fault  of  the  War  Department  in  failing  to  send 
news.  The  fall  of  Detroit  may  be  palliated  by  it 
just  so  far  as  it  was  affected  by  it,  which  was  very 
little,  if  at  all,  as  this  happened  six  weeks  later. 

Governor  Hull  spent  the  winter  of  181 1-12 
in  Washington,  and  knew  all  that  was  going  on. 
It  is  possible  that  he  entertained  the  idea  that  a 
British  war  would  be  avoided.  He  felt  much 
more  kindly  to  the  British  than  most  Americans 
did,  except  in  a  small  part  of  the  country;  and  on 


272  HULL'S  STRANGE  VIEWS.  [Chai>.  XI. 

his  journey  down,  he  had  been  furnished  with  a 
passage  across  the  lake  by  a  British  armed  ves- 
sel detailed  on  purpose;  —  a  handsome  courtesy 
recognized  by  our  journals,  and  creditable  to  both 
parties.  But  he  himself  expected  Indian  hostili- 
ties, and  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  adminis- 
tration expected  war  with  Great  Britain.  He  knew 
that  the  force  under  his  command  was  raised  with 
that  anticipation,  if  not  for  that  immediate  service. 
He  also  knew  that  Congress  had,  by  sufficient 
majorities,  adopted  legislation  that  would  have 
been  absurd  except  in  that  view.  The  infatuation 
that  could  make  any  reasonable  man  suppose  war 
would  not  be  declared,  after  all  these  prelimina- 
ries, was  marvellous,  and  would  be  incredible,  if 
we  did  not  know  there  were  sections  of  the  coun- 
try, and  other  more  able  men  than  General  Hull, 
among  his  old  neighbors,  that  entertained  that  no- 
tion. That  a  general  sent  out  to  the  frontier 
with  an  army,  did  not  at  least  feel  bound  to  act 
in  all  his  course  as  if  war  might  be  declared  at 
any  moment,  and  then  one  party  or  the  other  must 
do  some  fighting,  was  one  of  the  fatalities  of 
Hull's  unfortunate  career.  No  administration  could 
have  delayed  it,  and  it  is  strange  he  should  have 
thought  so,  il    such  was  his  notion. 

The  invasion  of  Canada  was  very  openly  dis- 
cussed early  in  the  winter.  Before  accepting  com- 
mand, General  Hull  had,  in  writing,  expressed  his 
views  on  the  subject,  in  which  he  plainly  expressed 
his  opinion  in  favor  of  putting  at  Detroit  a  force 


Chap.  XI.]  PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR.  !273 

adequate  to  "protect  that  place,  as  an  alternative, 
and  not  as  an  appendage  to  a  plan  for  getting 
control  of  the  lakes  ;  and  that,  with  Detroit  pro- 
tected, the  Indians  could  be  kept  from  Maiden, 
and  the  British,  unable  to  hold  Canada  without 
them,  would  leave  it,  and  the  command  of  the 
lakes  would  be  obtained  without  a  fleet.  Mr. 
Eustis  did  not  corroborate  his  statements  concern- 
ing his  further  representations,  as  being  quite  as 
positive  as  he  asserted  them  from  recollection  to 
have  been.  Before  the  middle  of  January,  the 
President  had  been  not  authorized  but  required 
to  add  to  the  regular  army  a  force  of  more  than 
25,000  men.  On  the  6th  of  February  he  was 
authorized  to  accept  50,000  volunteers.  On  the 
14th  of  March  a  loan  of  eleven  millions  was  au- 
thorized. On  the  4th  of  April  an  embargo  was 
laid.  And  during  all  this  time  the  necessary  sup- 
plementary laws  were  passed,  for  supplies,  ord- 
nance and  ships,  and  for  organizing  the  customary 
corps  and  appliances  for  the  staff  department. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  the  President 
called  for  1,200  Ohio  volunteers,  and  planned  a 
movement  to  Detroit  with  an  army  including  those 
and  the  4th  Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry, 
which  had  been  engaged  in  the  Battle  of  Tippe- 
canoe, and  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Miller, 
who  afterwards  obtained  distinction  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  and  was  made  famous  by  his  modest  "77/ 
try,  sir!'  Hull,  after  declining  command  in  the 
first  instance,  afterwards  accepted  it,  and  did  so 
18 


274 


QUALITY   OF  THE  TROOPS.  [Chap.  XI. 


unconditionally.  The  volunteering  went  on  very 
rapidly,  and  much  greater  numbers  came  in  than 
had  been  called  for,  but  all  were  accepted.  Three 
regiments  of  foot  and  a  considerable  force  of 
cavalry  were  mustered  in.  Duncan  McArthur, 
James  Findlay,  and  Lewis  Cass,  were  chosen 
colonels  of  the  first,  second  and  third  regiments. 
Their  other  field  officers  were  Majors  James  Denny 
and  William  A.  Trimble  of  the  first,  Thomas  Moore 
and  Thomas  B.  Van  Home  of  the  second,  and 
Robert  Morrison  and  J.  R.  Munson  of  the  third. 
It  is  not  known  or  reported  that  there  was  in  the 
whole  command  an  unworthy  officer  of  any 
standing.  Some  of  them  were  men  of  tried 
bravery  and  personal  distinction.  All  the  superior 
officers  were  already  well  known  and  trustworthy. 
Colonel  Miller's  command  was  one  never  surpassed 
in  soldierly  qualities,  and  Duncan  McArthur  was 
spoken  of  by  Brock  as  "an  officer  of  high  repu- 
tation."    All  of  them  soon  earned  it. 

Some  stress  has  been  laid  by  Hull's  apologists 
upon  the  fact  that  the  troops  were  chiefly  militia 
men,  and  not  under  proper  subordination.  They 
were  no  part  of  the  ordinary  militia,  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  term,  and  were  the  same  kind  of 
troops  that  in  all  our  wars  have  been  the  chief 
reliance  of  the  government.  One  of  Hull's  con- 
spicuous faults  was  his  notion  (drawn  partly,  per- 
haps, from  his  old  experience  with  Steuben)  that 
troops  who  were  not  trained  and  apparelled  ac- 
cording to  the    army    regulations    were  not    to  be 


Chap.  XI.]  VOLUNTEERS.  275 

implicitly  trusted.  He  had  before  made  trouble 
in  Michigan  by  this  finical  disposition,  and  it  may 
have  been  one  of  the  causes  of  dislike  which 
arose  in  the  army  quite  early.  No  one  doubts 
that  it  is  advantageous  to  secure  uniformity  and 
system  in  little  things  as  well  as  in  great,  when  it 
can  be  done  without  too  great  delay  and  the  sacri- 
fice of  other  things.  But  it  is  idle  to  expect  vol- 
unteers to  become  martinets,  and  it  is  very  ques- 
tionable how  far  it  is  best  to  go  in  that  direction. 
In  the  wars  of  the  west,  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  hard  fighting  in  a  very  rough  way,  and  those 
were  generally  found  to  be  the  best  commanders 
who  least  annoyed  their  men.  It  is  very*certain  that 
if  there  was  insubordination  it  did  not  interfere  very 
seriously  with  the  proper  work  of  the  army,  although 
there  was  some  which  arose  from  its  being  kept 
back  from  its  work.  This  fault-finding  with  the 
volunteers  is  the  less  to  be  respected,  if  the  court 
was  justified  in  finding  him  guilty  on  the  specific 
charge  of  neglecting  the  inspection,  training  and 
exercise  of  these  troops,  during  the  period  between 
his  arrival  at  Detroit  and  the  surrender.  The 
testimony  covered  the  whole  period  after  he  took 
command;  but  the  court  very  justly  exonerated 
him  from  liability  for  such  neglect  on  the  march 
through  the  wilderness,  but  condemned  him  for  the 
rest. 

On  the  30th  day  of  June,  Hull  and  his  army, 
after  a  tedious  and  fatiguing  march  of  nearly  three 
weeks,  arrived    at    the    Rapids    of  the  Maumee,  a 


276  VESSELS  SENT   FROM  MAUMEE."  CAPTURE.       [Chap.  XI. 

few  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Toledo.  On 
the  24th,  as  before  stated,  Hull  had  received  let- 
ters from  Washington  saying  nothing  about  the 
declaration  of  war,  but  urging  haste.  He  had 
also  heard  from  Secretary  Atwater,  at  Detroit, 
that  affairs  looked  threatening.  On  the  24th 
Colonel  McArthur  also  received  letters  showing 
that  an  immediate  declaration  was  certain,  and  that 
it  must  before  that  have  been  made.  General 
Hull  refused  to  credit  this,  although  coming  from 
sure  sources,  because  he  could  not  imagine  any 
one  could  be  informed  earlier  than  himself.  On 
the  first  day  of  July  he  sent  forward,  by  vessel, 
some  of  hfe  invalids,  his  baggage  and  entrenching 
tools,  and  hospital  stores,  and  a  trunk  confaining 
all  his  instructions  and  military  papers,  with  the 
muster  rolls  of  the  whole  army.  Three  officers' 
wives  went  as  passengers.  A  smaller  vessel,  under 
charge  of  a  surgeon's  mate,  was  sent  up  at  the 
same  time.  The  army  moved  on  by  land  the  same 
day. 

The  larger  vessel  sailed  through  the  main 
channel  of  the  Detroit  River,  which  passes  in  a 
narrow  space  between  Maiden  and  Bois-blanc 
Island,  and  was  there  captured  on  the  next  day. 
The  smaller  vessel  followed  the  American  channel 
west  of  Grosse  He,  and  reached  Detroit  without 
interruption.  The  first  specification  against  Gen- 
eral Hull  under  the  charge  of  treason,  related  to 
sending  the  vessels  to  Detroit,  with  his  sick  men, 
papers    and    baggage.       Although    he    successfully 


Chap.  XL]  ARRIVAL  AT  SPRINGWELLS. 


277 


pleaded  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  martial  to 
try  him  for  treason,  the  court  were  satisfied  he 
had  no  treasonable  design,  and  so  certified,  and 
also  acquitted  him  of  criminal  neglect  in  the 
matter.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  he  knew  of 
the  transmission  of  his  papers  before  the  vessel 
sailed.  But  as  they  were  in  the  hands  of  his  son, 
whom  he  had  a  right  to  trust,  he  was  not  at 
fault  for  not  making  special  inquiry  on  the  subject 
of  their  transmission,  and  so  the  court  found. 

It  was  discovered,  some  time  before  they 
reached  the  Maumee,  that  those  among  the  Indians 
whose  fidelity  was  doubted  had  already  left  the 
country  and  gone  to  Canada.  The  number  of 
these  from  Ohio  was  not  very  great.  The  road 
to  Detroit  was  not  difficult,  and  it  was  traversed 
at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  a  day.  One  day  (the 
4th  of  July)  was  spent  at  the  Huron  River,  near 
Brownstown,  in  building  a  bridge.  Having  learned 
of  the  declaration  of  war  the  day  after  leaving 
Maumee,  there  was  some  anxiety  about  an  attack 
from  Maiden.  But  no  difficulty  occurred,  and  the 
troops  arrived  at  the  Sandhill,  at  Springwells,  just 
below  Detroit,  on  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  July. 
This  spot,  just  above  the  present  fort,  was  then  re- 
markable for  a  multitude  of  small  springs  or  natural 
wells,  amounting  to  hundreds,  a  few  feet  apart, 
and  generally  coming  up  to  within  a  few  inches 
of  the  top  of  the  bluff,  in  holes  of  from  three  to 
six  inches  in  diameter.  On  the  continuation  of 
the  knoll,  not  many  rods  below,  were  three  Indian 


278  ENTRY  INTO  CANADA.  [Chap.  XI. 

mounds,  circular  in  form,  one  of  which  was  covered 
with  timber.  These  were  removed  when  the 
present  Fort  Wayne  was  built,  and  were  found 
full  of  Indian  remains  and  ornaments.  The  sand- 
hill and  springs,  which  have  been  destroyed  by 
removal  of  much  of  the  bank,  reached  consider- 
ably further  up  the  river  than  the  fort.  This 
beautiful  spot  was  known  among  the  French  as 
Belle  Fontaine,  and  was,  on  account  of  its  dryness 
of  soil  and  salubrity,  a  favorite  camping  ground. 
It  was  the  camping  place  of  the  troops  who, 
twenty  years  later,  were  sent  out  against  Black 
Hawk  ;  and  six  years  thereafter,  for  a  few  hours, 
of  the  motley  array  that  were  enlisted  in  the 
so-called  Patriot  War.  As  a  point  commanding 
the  river  both  up  and  down  from  the  only  bend 
in  it,  the  place  is  of  military  value  and  now  fortified. 

Immediately  on  reaching  Detroit,  the  army 
clamored  to  be  led  to  Maiden.  Colonel  Cass 
had  been  sent  to  that  fort  to  communicate  with 
the  commander,  St.  George,  concerning  the  persons 
captured  on  the  Cuyahoga  schooner.  He  had 
opportunities  to  see  its  condition,  and  made  it 
known  to  the  general.  The  latter  put  himself 
upon  the  terms  of  his  Washington  letters,  and 
refused  to  move  without  orders.  On  the  9th,  the 
orders  came,  authorizing  him  to  commence  offen- 
sive operations;  and,  after  dallying  a  day  or  two, 
he  moved  across  to  Sandwich,  at  the  centre  of 
the  present  town  of  Windsor,  and  issued  a  spirited 
proclamation,  which  was  penned  by  Cass,  and  which 


Chap.  XI.  |  HULL'S   INERTNESS.  279 

General  Brock  found  much  in  his  way.1  This 
ended  his  serious  work  of  invasion.  Cass  and 
McArthur,  with  others,  made  several  expeditions 
and  reconnoisances  in  force,  and  demonstrated  the 
weakness  of  that  part  of  the  Province, — McArthur 
pushing  up  the  Thames  as  far  as  the  Moravian 
towns,  and  bringing  back  considerable  supplies, 
and  Cass  reaching  the  Canard  River,  five  miles 
above  Maiden,  and  driving  back  from  the  bridge, 
where  a  battery  was  erected,  its  original  guard 
and  reinforcements  sent  up  from  Maiden,  and  only 
pausing  when  darkness  set  in.  The  refusal  of 
Hull  to  follow  up  their  advantage  was  a  charge 
on  which  he  was  convicted.  The  garrison  at  Mai- 
den was  actually  preparing  to  evacuate  the  place, 
in  expectation  of  an  attack  which  they  had  no 
force  to  resist. 

i  The  following  passages  from  Brock's  Life  are  fully  sustained  by 
Brock's  official  and  private  letters : 

"  The  invasion  of  the  western  district  by  Brigadier  General  tjull,  and 
the  artful  and  threatening  language  of  his  proclamation,  were  productive 
at  the  outset  of  very  unfavorable  effects  among  a  large  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada;  and  so  general  was  the  despondency,  that 
the  Norfolk  militia,  consisting,  we  believe,  chiefly  of  settlers  of  American 
origin,  peremptorily  refused  to  march. 

*  M  *  *  it  Not  only  among  the  miiitia  was  a  disposition  evinced 
to  submit  tamely,  but  five  hundred  in  the  western  district  sought  the 
protection  of  the  enemy.  It  is  true  that  the  people  were  then  far  removed 
from  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  more  subject  to  hostile  influence, 
as  they  were  principally  composed  of  French  Canadians  and  of  the  natives 
of  the  United  States,  or  their  immediate  descendants;  but  even  the 
Indians,  who  were  lqcated  on  the  Grand  River,  in  the  heart  of  the  pro- 
vince, positively  refused,  with  a  few  exceptions,  to  take  up  arms ;  and 
they  announced  their  intention,  after  the  return  of  some  of  their  chiefs 
from  General  Hull,  to  remain  neutral,  as  if  they  wished  the  authorities 
to  believe  that  they  would  remain  in  peace  in  the  midst  of  war." — Lije 
oj  Brock,  p.  204-5. 


280  WEAKNESS  OF  MALDEN.  [Chap.  XI. 

General  Brock,  complaining  of  the  apathy  or 
disaffection  of  the  people,  referred  to  the  success 
of  "one  Watson,  a  surveyor  from  Montreal,  of  a 
desperate  character,"  in  penetrating  unopposed 
with  a  small  cavalry  force  as  far  as  Westminster.1 
This  was  no  doubt  Captain  Joseph  Watson,  at  one 
time  Secretary  to  the  Governor  and  Judges,  and 
City  Register. 

The  story  of  this  period  has  been  amply  told 
by  many  others.  Maiden  was  exposed  and  weak, 
and  its  condition  was  known  to  the  army,  not  only 
from  Cass,  but  from  spies  and  prisoners.  The 
capture  was  certain,  and  would  have  given  the 
Americans  command  of  the  Detroit  River  and  its 
approaches,  as  well  as  broken  up  the  Indian  head- 
quarters ;  and  the  line  of  supplies  would  have 
been  open  by  land  to  Ohio  and  Indiana,  as  he 
had  anticipated  in  his  manifesto  of  March  6th  to 
the  Department.  The  Indians  along  the  Ameri- 
can side  of  the  Detroit  River  did  not  go  over  to 
the  British  until  the  early  part  of  August,  and  then 
did  it  unwillingly,  if  not  under  compulsion;  and  if 
Maiden  had  been  taken,  it  would  probably  never 
have  happened.  No  vessel  could  have  gone  up 
and  down  the  river  without  coming  within  easy 
range  of  batteries.  The  British  vessels  were  not 
formidable  against  land-batteries,  and,  more- 
over, during  all  this  time  the  American  ves- 
sel, Adams,  was  idle  at  the  navy-yard  on 
the      River      Rouge,     repairing,    but     capable     of 

i  Brock's  Life.  199. 


Chap.  XI.]  DELAYS.  281 

speedy  fitting,  and  stronger  than  the  Queen 
Charlotte.  Within  a  very  short  period  after  the 
surrender  she  was  armed  by  the  British  with  18 
guns,  as  the  "  Detroit,"  and  on  the  8th  of  October 
was  captured  near  Buffalo,  with  the  Caledonia,  by 
Lieutenant  Jesse  D.  Elliott,  of  the  navy.  She  was 
burned  and  General  Hull  lost  some  of  his  baggage 
and  papers  in  her. 

Up  to  the  fourth  of  August,  there  was  no  in- 
timation given  by  the  General  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  that  he  felt  any  anxiety  for  lack  of  forces 
or  support.  In  his  letter  of  July  9th,  in  answer 
to  that  allowing  him  to  move  forward,  he  does  in- 
deed say  that  he  does  not  think  his  force  equal 
to  the  reduction  of  Amherstburg,  and  that  the  Sec- 
retary must  not  be  too  sanguine,  but  that  he  will 
do  everything  possible  to  be  done.  But  on  the 
2 2d  he  speaks  much  more  decidedly.  He  writes 
that  he  is  making  preparations  for  the  siege,  which 
will  be  ready  in  two  weeks;  that  his  army  is  able 
to  take  Maiden  by  storm,  but  thinks  it  would  be 
with  too  great  a  sacrifice  under  present  circum- 
stances; that  he  is  making  preparations  for  an 
attempt  on  the  Queen  Charlotte,  and  that  if  Mai- 
den was  in  his  possession  he  could  march  his 
army    to    Niagara    or  York    in  a  very  short  time. 

At  this  time  he  knew  there  was  to  be  no  lake 
force,  and  he  asked  for  no  reinforcements,  and  the 
tone  of  his  despatch  was  that  of  a  resolute  and 
firm  commander.  His  communications  had  not 
been    disturbed,   and    no    detachments    of  Indians 


282 


DELAYS.  [Chap.  XI 


had  been  sent  across  the  river.  The  ordinary 
mails  came  through  in  about  fifteen  days  from 
Washington,  and  he  had  never  sent  expresses, 
which  could  have  gone  in  half  the  time,  or  resorted 
to  any  cypher  or  other  device  to  prevent  mischief 
by.  this  interception.  He  did  not  inform  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  opinions  or  urgency  of  his  officers, 
but  left  him  to  understand  that  they  were  all  of 
one  mind  with  him;  and  in  every  instance  when 
he  resorted  to  a  council,  he  followed  it  if  a  single 
vote  of  an  inferior  officer  made  a  tie  or  a  ma- 
jority against  action,  though  opposed  by  the  su- 
perior officers;  and  when  the  majority  was  in  favor 
of  prompt  action,  he  as    uniformly  disregarded    it. 

The  long  delay,  and  the  General's  obstinacy  in 
refusing  to  allow  any  decisive  action,  led  to  all 
the  worst  evils  that  followed.  Knowing  the  delay 
in  his  own  advices,  he  must  have  known  the  Brit- 
ish would  get  news  of  the  war  to  the  upper  coun- 
try first,  as  he  was  in  the  only  American  line  of 
travel.  He  took  no  steps  to  forward  advices,  and 
does  not  seem  to  have  paid  any  heed  to  the  ex- 
istence of  Mackinaw,  or  the  dangers  it  must  in- 
evitably run  from  a  surprise.  It  was  a  very  im- 
portant post  in  his  own  civil  jurisdiction,  and  the 
lives  of  its  garrison  and  people  were  as  important 
as  those  of  his  Detroit  neighbors.  He  had  dwelt 
much  in  his  former  communications  to  the  gov- 
ernment upon  the  influence  of  the  trading  com- 
panies over  the  Indians,  and  their  inveterate  ha- 
tred to  the  Americans;    and    the    prospect    of  the 


Chap.  XI. J  CAPTURE  OF  MACKINAW.  283 

capture  of  Mackinaw,  and  of  the  consequent  let- 
ting loose  of  the  northern  tribes  upon  the  lower 
country,  was  one  which  could  not  have  escaped 
his  notice,  if  he  had  given  ordinary  thought  to  his 
duties.  The  capture  of  that  post,  and  the  rising 
of  these  tribes,  are  dwelt  upon  in  his  apology 
and  defence  as  justifying  his  timid  course  after- 
wards. But  they  were  inevitable,  unless  by  some 
vigorous  course  at  Detroit.  The  rallying  place 
of  British  influence  at  Maiden  could  have  been 
broken  up;  and  he  had,  in  March,  declared  that 
this  would  be  an  effectual  measure,  as  no  doubt 
it  would  have  been.  If  he  had  been  more  dili- 
gent beforehand,  and  less  astounded  afterwards, 
the  long  list  of  massacres  on  our  borders  would 
have    been    diminished,  if  not    entirely   prevented. 

The  news  of  war  reached  the  British  post  at 
the  Island  of  St.  Joseph,  and  the  American  friends 
and  abettors  of  the  British  at  the  Sault,  about 
the  middle  of  July.  The  force  of  regulars  sent 
from  there  was  forty-two  men  and  four  officers, 
which  probably  comprised  most  of  the  garrison. 
On  the  1 6th  of  July  they  started  for  Mackinaw. 
The  expedition  consisted,  besides,  of  the  armed 
brig  Caledonia  (afterwards  captured  with  a  large 
cargo  of  furs  at  Buffalo,  and  doing  good  service 
under  Lieutenant  Turner  in  Perry's  fleet),  250  Ca- 
nadians, servants  and  agents  of  the  Northwest 
Company,  and  traders,  and  500  Indians,  the  sava- 
ges being  under  command  of  Robert  Dickson, 
and  John  Askin,  Junior,  and    his    son.     The    white 


284  CAPTURE  OF  MACKINAW.  [Chap.  XI. 

Canadians  were  led  by  John  Johnston,  Crawford, 
Pothier,  Ermatinger,  La  Croix,  Rolette,  Franks, 
Livingston  and  others,  all  traders.  From  80  to 
100  Indians  joined  them  on  the  way,  and  they 
found  about  70  allies  in   Mackinaw. 

Lieutenant  Porter  Hanks,  a  brave  and  estim- 
able gentleman,  commanded  at  Mackinaw,  with  a 
garrison  of  57  effective  men  and  officers.  On  the 
1 6th,  he  had  heard  from  an  interpreter  some 
rumor  of  an  intention  of  the  Indians  at  St.  Joseph 
to  make  trouble,  and  the  coolness  of  the  chiefs  at 
Mackinaw  induced  him  to  believe  mischief  was 
brewing.  He  consulted  with  the  American  gentle- 
men on  the  island,  and  it  was  agreed  to  send 
Captain  Michael  Dousman  of  the  militia,  who 
volunteered  to  go  out  and  watch  the  Indians.  He 
started  in  the  evening  near  sunset,  and  was 
captured  about  15  miles  out.  The  British  landed 
that  night  on  the  side  of  the  island  away  from  the 
fort,  at  a  beach  ever  since  known  as  the  British 
Landing.  Dousman  gave  his  parole  to  take  the 
people  and  assemble  them  on  the  west  side  of  the 
island,  and  put  them  under  protection  of  the 
British  guard,  warning  them  not  to  go  to  the  fort, 
and  telling  them,  if  any  resistance  was  made  from 
the  garrison,  there  would  be  an  indiscriminate 
massacre  of  the  whole'tpopulation.  He  also  agreed 
not  to  inform  the  commander  of  anything.  Pursu- 
ing these  directions,  he  succeeded  in  collecting  the 
people,  and  in  concealing  all  movements  from  the 
garrison,    until    the    surgeon     Dr.     Day,     passing 


Chap.  XI. j  CAPTURE   OF  MACKINAW.  285 

through  the  village,  noticed  and  inquired  into  the 
excitement,  and  informed  Hanks,  who  at  once 
prepared  for  defence.  He  discovered,  however, 
that  the  height  known  as  old  Fort  Holmes,  a  short 
distance  back  of  the  fort,  and  completely  command- 
ing it,  was  already  occupied  by  the  British  with 
artillery,  and  that  resistance  was  useless.  This 
was  the  first  notice  he  received  of  the  declaration 
of  war.  He  did  not  surrender  until  he  had  sent 
three  American  gentlemen,  besides  his  officers, 
with  a  flag,  to  ascertain  the  force  of  the  enemy, 
and  obtained  honorable  terms;  nor  until  the  un- 
animous opinion  of  both  garrison  and  citizens 
declared  it  necessary. 

The  prisoners  marched  out  with  the  honors  of 
war,  and  were  paroled ;  and  Lieutenant  Hanks 
and  his  associate  officers  arrived  at  Detroit  with 
the  news,  on  the  29th  of  July.  The  inhabitants 
who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  were 
compelled  to  leave  the  island.  Some  of  them  be- 
came more  than  submissive,  and  were  active  and 
willing  renegades.  The  conduct  of  the  Indians  at 
Mackinaw,  as  well  as  subsequently  in  the  lower 
country,  showed  that  they  were  sufficiently  under 
control  of  some,  at  least,  of  the  British  officers  and 
agents,  to  restrain  their  savagery  until  allowed  to 
indulge  it  by  their  white  leaders  ;  and  while  these 
deserve  such  credit  as  is  due  for  any  forbearance, 
the  responsibility  for  outrages  actually  committed 
in  the  presence  and  under  control  of  similar 
agents  elsewhere,  is  justly  chargeable  to  all  who 
intentionally  favored  or  allowed  them. 


286  DISLOYALTY   IN  THE   NORTHERN   POSTS.         TChap.  XL 

Whatever  allowance  may  be  made  for  the  old 
predilections  of  those  traders  who  had  taken  up 
their  abode  in  the  United  States,  without  electing 
to  retain  their  British  allegiance,  their  voluntary 
and  unnecessary  enlistment  in  such  expeditions 
was  a  plain  act  of  treason,  for  which  they  deserved 
punishment.  But  by  some  strange  oversight  in 
the  subsequent  legislation  of  Congress,  or  by  an 
interpretation  of  their  statutes  which  was  at  the 
extreme  verge  of  liberality,  every  one  of  the 
settlers  at  Mackinaw,  Green  Bay,  or  the  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  who  occupied  land  on  the  first  of 
July,  1812,  was  confirmed  in  it,  as  a  donation  and 
not  as  a  right,  although  the  testimony  was  clear 
that  nearly  the  whole  Green  Bay  settlement,  and 
many  of  the  people  at  Mackinaw  and  the  Sault, 
were  actively  disloyal.  How  far,  if  at  all,  Dous- 
man,  against  whom  the  land  office  affidavits  were 
very  strong,  was  engaged  in  active  disaffection, 
was  never  judicially  examined.  Some  of  the 
commissioners  regarded  the  charges  as    malicious. 

The  arrival  of  Lieutenant  Hanks  disturbed 
Hull's  quiet,  and  gave  him  natural  alarm,  and  he 
called  for  reinforcements  on  the  day  when  he 
received  the  news.  But  he  spoke  in  the  same 
confident  tone  to  the  Secretary,  and  to  Governors 
Scott  and  Meigs,  as  he  had  done  before,  with  the 
air  of  a  general  who  had  been  constantly  on  the 
alert,  saying :  "  The  operations  of  this  army  have 
heen  hitherto  successful,  and  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance    that    the    objects  should   be    effected." 


Chap.  XI.]  INDIAN    DEFECTION 


287 


It  is  needless  to  add  that  those  patriotic  gover- 
nors acted  with  their  usual  promptness,  and  that 
Detroit  was  not  lost  through  their  remissness,  nor 
from  any  reason  to  fear  their  duty  would  not  be 
performed. 

Colonel  Proctor  reached  Maiden  a  day  or  two 
before  the  arrival  of  Hanks.  <  He  came  by  Lake 
Erie  and  brought  no  force  with  him.  But  the 
news  from  Mackinaw  had  its  natural  effect  in  de- 
ciding the  Brownstown  Wyandots,  under  Walk-in- 
the-Water,  to  submit  or  adhere  to  the  British. 
Information  being  received  that  Captain  Henry 
Brush  of  Ohio  was  coming  up  with  supplies,  Hull, 
on  the  4th  of  August,  detached  Major  Van  Home 
of  Findlay's  Regiment  to  meet  and  escort  him. 
Proctor  sent  over  a  force  ol  soldiers  and  Indians 
to  intercept  him,  and  he  was,  after  a  gallant  fight, 
compelled  to  return.  On  the  day  when  he  sent 
down  this  detachment,  General  Hull  had  written 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  informing  him  of  the 
movements  on  the  upper  Thames  by  Major 
Chambers  of  the  British  army,  whom  he  expected 
to  hear  from  as  gathering  the  Indians  and  militia  to 
reinforce  Maiden,  but  who,  as  it  turned  out,  failed 
to  accomplish  anything,  because  they  would  not 
join  him.  He  also  mentioned  Proctor's  arrival, 
and  the  capture  of  the  Brownstown  Indians,  by 
whites  and  Indians  from  Maiden,  as  not  unwilling 
captives.  He  speaks  of  consulting  the  principal 
officers,  and  says,  as  if  there  had  been  no  discord, 
that  an  attempt  to  storm  the  fort  without  artillery 


288 


PECULIAR   PRETEXTS.  [Chap.  XI. 


was  deemed  unadvisable.  He  also  shadows  forth 
the  idea  that  possibly  he  may  be  compelled  to  re- 
cross  the  river  to  keep  open  his  communications 
with  Ohio,  and  states  that  "I  am  constantly  obliged 
to  make  a  strong  detachment  to  convey  the  pro- 
visions between  the  foot  of  the  rapids  and  De- 
troit." 

Some  of  these  statements  are  singular,  when 
compared  with  the  testimony  and  his  own  defence. 
Van  Home's  was  the  first  detachment  he  had  ever 
sent  out  for  the  purpose,  and  this,  in  view  of  the 
known  facilities  of  Proctor  to  send  troops  and  In- 
dians over  from  Maiden,  was  represented  by  Mc- 
Arthur,  at  least,  to  be,  as  it  was,  grossly  insufficient. 
One  of  the  charges  Hull  was  convicted  of  was 
neglect  of  duty  in  not  keeping  open  his  commu- 
nications, and  in  sending  out  Van  Home  without 
adequate  force.  He  leaves  the  Secretary  to  infer 
that  he  has  always  kept  them  open,  that  a  large 
force  was  necessary  to  do  it,  and  that  it  might 
need  a  movement  of  his  entire  army.  This  move- 
ment meant,  as  was  afterwards  avowed,  a  conver- 
sion of  the  whole  army  into  a  couple  of  garri- 
sons at  Brownstown  and  on  the  Raisin,  which 
would  have  left  Detroit  with  no  considerable  force, 
and  which  would  almost  have  insured  the  capture 
in  detail  of  the  whole  line.  But  in  fact  this  pro- 
ject of  re-crossing  the  river,  though  submitted  to 
a  council  on  the  first  of  August,  had  been  unan- 
imously scouted;  and  the  opinion  was  given,  with 
no  serious,  (if  any)  f  dissent,  that  the  only  effectual 


Chap.  XI.  I  MAIL  CAPTURED. 


289 


way  to  keep  open  communications  with  Ohio  was 
to  take  Maiden.  The  General  assented  to  this, 
and,  upon  the  assurance  that  the  artillery  would  be 
ready  in  a  day  or  two,  it  was  carried  by  Hull's 
casting  vote  that  they  should  wait  for  the  artillery. 
At  this  time  one  of  the  two  guns  was  ready,  and 
the  other  nearly  so,  and  prepared  in  five  days 
after.  All  the  colonels  were  in  favor  of  an  im- 
mediate movement. 

The  mail  was  sent  on  immediately  behind  Van 
Home,  with  a  small  mounted  escort,  which  caught 
up  with  him  and  was  captured  during  the  en- 
gagement. It  is  a  little  singular,  and  shows  dili- 
gence and  activity  in  Proctor,  as  well  as  a  lack 
of  secrecy  or  fidelity  in  some  one  in  the  Amer- 
ican camp,  that  both  Van  Home's  and  Colonel 
Miller's  detachments,  which  started  in  the  even- 
ings of  the  4th  and  8th  of  August,  were  encoun- 
tered in  the  morning  at  Brownstown  and  Mon- 
guagon,  by  forces  sent  across  the  river  by  boats 
during  the  night.  Monguagon,  the  present  site  of 
Wyandotte,  (the  old  home  of  Walk-in-the-Water,) 
is  about  six  miles  from  Maiden,  and  Brownstown 
not  far  from  the  same  distance,  and  the  river  is 
very  wide,  with  islands  intervening.  The  news 
must  have  gone  down  on  the  Canada  side  much 
faster  than  the    troops  did    on  the  American  side. 

The  letters  captured  in  the  mail  at  Browns- 
town were  very  dismal,  and  furnished  Brock  with 
the  intelligence  of  Hull's  state  of  mind,  which  gave 

19 


290 


HULL  RETREATS   FROM   CANADA.  [Chap.  XL 


him  confidence  to  assume  a  bold  front  and   count 
on  success.1 

On  the  6th  of  August,  the  artillery  being 
ready,  General  Hull  issued  an  order  to  attack 
Maiden  on  the  8th.  On  the  7th  everything  was 
completely  prepared,  when  (as  Hull  says,  because 
of  certain  letters  received  from  Generals  Porter 
and  Hall  on  the  Niagara,  intimating  that  a  force 
was  moving  westward  from  that  quarter,)  he 
suddenly,  and  against  the  indignant  remonstrances 
of  his  officers,  ordered  a  retreat  across  the  river ; 
and  the  army,  except  a  small  detachment  left  in 
an  entrenchment,  crossed  that  evening.  In  his 
then  asserted  desire  to  open  his  communications, 
and  his  subsequent  profession  of  a  wish  to  spare 
the  effusion  of  blood,  which  has  since  come  to  the 
front  as  a  reason  for  self-gratulation  for  daring  to 
be  governed  by  humanity,  he  proposed  to  take  his 
whole  army  back  to  the  Maumee.  How  it  would 
tend  to  save  the  blood  of  the  Michigan  settlers, 
to  leave  them  unprotected,  and  with  the  assurance 
that  the  American  army  would  not  help  them, 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  thousands  of  savages 
who  were  expected  to  overrun  the  country,  is  not 
manifest.  His  whole  defence  against  the  principal 
charges  against  him  is  based  on  this  notion  of 
saving  blood.  But  when  he  came  out  from 
Washington,  if  he  did  not  expect  to  fight  British, 
he  did  expect  an  Indian  war,  and  all  its  attendant 
horrors.     He  knew  that  Tecumseh  was  determined 

»  Brock's  Life,  p.  267. 


Chap.  XI]  HULL   DEMORALIZED. 


291 


to  clear  the  land  of  the  Americans,  and  that  the 
natural  process  of  depopulation  was  by  unlimited 
massacre  and  barbarity,  and  that  this  would  come 
unless  there  was  fighting.  The  whole  experience 
of  the  west  had  shown  that  when  the  Indians  once 
begin  mischief  they  never  end  it  until  they  are 
thoroughly  put  down ;  and  that  the  first  sign  of 
timidity  is  an  infallible  invitation  to  the  use  of 
tomahawk  and  scalping  knife.  That  Hull  would 
not  have  quailed  from  danger  that  was  merely 
personal  is  very  possible.  He  had  certainly  been 
brave  enough  in  his  youth.  But  his  conduct 
during  the  whole  period,  from  the  arrival  of  Hanks 
to  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  can  only  be  honestly 
as  well  as  charitably  explained  by  supposing  him 
to  have  been  completely  unmanned  and  confounded 
by  his  responsibilities  and  surroundings,  which 
before  he  had  as  strangely  failed  to  appreciate. 
He  was  entirely  lacking  in  executive  ability,  yet 
fond  of  asserting  himself.  He  was  afraid  to  take- 
decisive  action,  and  a  chronic  procrastinator,  and 
these  defects  relieved  him  from  the  most  serious 
imputations  of  disaffection  which  would  otherwise 
have  been  inevitable.  If  he  had  not  been  found 
lacking  in  ordinary  military  qualities,  no  charity 
could  have  saved  him  from  worse  charges. 

There  is  no  doubt,  as  he  complains,  that  from 
this  time  forth,  and  probably  very  much  earlier, 
his  officers  did  not  conceal  their  opinions  of  his 
conduct.  The  proposal  to  retire  upon  the  Mau- 
mee  was  met   by  an  unequivocal  avowal    that   his 


292  DISTRUST  OF  OFFICERS.      MYSTERY.  [Chai>.  XI. 

troops  would  not  follow  him.  It  became  clear 
that  he  had  become  disposed  to  avoid  any  fight- 
ing. It  is  quite  likely  that  thus  early  he  saw  in- 
dications that  his  command  might  be  divested,  then 
or  soon  after,  and  active'  measures  enforced  by 
others;  for  when  the  time  drew  near  for  the  final 
act  in  the  drama,  the  two  most  active  volunteer 
colonels  were  on  detached  service.  As  early  as 
the  1 2th  of  August,  Cass  and  McArthur  had  in- 
formed Governor  Meigs  that  Hull  had  talked  of 
a  surrender,  and  they  had  then  determined  to  dis- 
place him.  And  he  probably  had  either  informa- 
tion, or  else  sufficient  shrewdness  left,  not  only  to 
know  that  they  would  never  tolerate  a  surrender, 
but  to  know,  or  infer,  how  they  would  have  pre- 
vented it;    and  he  managed  to  thwart  them. 

During  the  interval  of  five  days,  when  his  army 
was  awaiting  the  completion  of  the  siege  guns 
for  attacking  Maiden,  occurred  the  most  tragic 
affair  for  which  he  was  immediately  responsible, 
and  for  which  neither  General  Hull,  nor  any  one 
else,  has  ever  given  an  explanation.  That  he  ap- 
preciated the  act,  or  desired,  or  actually  expected 
the  horrid  result,  his  worst  enemy  would  never 
have  charged  against  him.  But,  so  far  as  can  be 
known,  he  kept  his  action  from  the  knowledge  of 
his  officers,  and  yet  confided  it  to  some  one  who 
made  it  known  to  the  enemy.  And  it  may  be 
remarked  that  the  coincidences  of  evil  are  so 
many,  that  it  seems  almost  certain  either  that  Hull 
himself  was  a  traitor,  which    no    one  supposes,  or 


Chap.  XI. J  HULL'S   MESSAGE  TO  CHICAGO.  293 

that  he  had  a  spy  or  traitor  constantly  with  him, 
having  means  of  getting  possession  of  his  plans. 
But  that  person,  whoever  he  was,  has  not  been 
detected  and  identified,  and  no  reasonable  sus- 
picions have  ever  been  aimed  at  any  one. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1812,  a  Potawatamie 
chief  named  Winimeg,  or  the  Catfish — said  to  have 
been  a  faithful  friend  to  the  Americans,  and  a 
private  friend  to  the  Kinzie  family, — made  his  ap- 
pearance at  Fort  Dearborn,  with  a  letter  from 
General  Hull  to  Captain  Heald,  the  commander, 
ordering  him  to  evacuate  the  post  and  proceed 
with  his  command  overland  to  Detroit,  leaving  it 
to  his  discretion  to  dispose  of  the  public  property 
as  he  thought  fit.  Chicago  was  at  this  time  sur- 
rounded with  Indians,  and  had  been  for  some  time 
in  a  state  of  siege.  Colonel  Anderson,  of  the 
Michigan  Second  Regiment,  at  the  Raisin,  notified 
General  Hull  on  the  5th  of  August,  that  the  Indi- 
ans were  swarming  in  from  the  west  towards 
Maiden.  Winimeg  privately  informed  Mr.  Kinzie 
that  he  knew  what  was  in  the  letter,  and  urged 
him  to  dissuade  Heald  from  obeying  it,  or  to  per- 
suade him,  if  he  did  so,  to  depart  at  once,  before 
the  surrounding  Indians  found  it  out.  But  as  the 
post  was  strong  and  well  supplied,  he  urged  that 
it  would  be  safe  to  hold  out,  as  they  had  done 
some  time,  for  reinforcements.  The  Indians  never 
made  much  impression  on  any  defended  post,  and 
this  advice  was  wise  ;  but  Heald  insisted  he  must 
obey  orders,  and  yet  dallied  several  days  and  ag- 


294 


CHICAGO   EVACUATED.  [Chap.  XI. 


gravated  the  danger.  His  associates  and  the 
civilians  in  the  fort,  who  were  experienced  in  In- 
dian ways,  protested  against  his  giving  up  the  fort; 
but  he  was  stubborn.  He  says  in  his  report  that 
the  Indians  knew  of  his  instructions  as  soon  as 
he  did  himself,  and  came  flocking  in  from  all 
quarters  to  receive  the  goods  which  he  was  to 
distribute.  During  the  delay,  Tecumseh  sent  over 
a  message  to  the  Indians  informing  them  that 
Hull  had  crossed  the  river,  and  would  no  doubt 
soon  surrender,  and  calling  on  them  to  arm  and 
come  over.  In  spite  of  all  this,  Heald  was  infatu- 
ated enough  to  imagine  that  the  Indians  had  such 
a  regard  for  him  that  they  would  not  molest  him 
if  he  set  out.  On  the  13th,  Captain  Wells,  who 
was  a  near  relative  of  Mrs.  Heald,  and  an  adopted 
Indian  chief,  having  heard  of  the  state  of  things 
at  Chicago,  came  over  from  Fort  Wayne  with  30 
Miamis  to  escort  Heald  thither  if  he  should  be 
mad  enough  to  leave.  Wells  failed  to  make  any 
more  impression  on  Heald  than  the  rest  had  done, 
although  he  assured  him  it  would  be  almost  cer- 
tain death  to  go'  out.  On  the  14th  Heald  de- 
stroyed the  liquor,  and  surplus  arms  and  ammu- 
nition, and  gave  everything  else  to  the  Indians,  who, 
although  angry  at  the  waste,  committed  no  violence 
before  he  left  the  fort.  There  were  some  chiefs 
who  were  friendly  to  the  garrison,  though  hostile 
to  the  Americans,  and  they  warned  Heald  that  the 
Indians  were  enraged  at  his  destruction  of  the 
liquor  and    ammunition,  and    would    murder    them 


Chap.  XI.]  MASSACRE  AT  CHICAGO  29  »r> 

all.  One,  the  Black  Partridge,  took  off  a  medal 
which  he  had  received  from  the  United  States, 
and  returned  it,  saying  his  young  men  could  not 
be  restrained  from  shedding  their  blood,  and  he 
could  not  wear  it  as  an  enemy.  He,  however, 
was  active  in  saving  several  of   the  party. 

On  the  15th,  they  set  out  from  the  fort,  at  nine 
o'clock,  with  drums  beating  and  in  military  array. 
Wells  had  blacked  his  face,  in  token  of  expected 
death.  They  had  marched  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  the  fort,  when  they  were  attacked  from  be- 
hind a  row  of  sand  hills.  The  Miamis  took  no 
part  on  either  side,  and  after  a  bloody  fight,  in 
which  38  out  of  66  soldiers  were  killed,  as  well 
as  two  women  and  twelve  children,  the  remainder 
surrendered  and  were  spared,  though  made  pris- 
oners and  treated  very  harshly.  The  story  of  the 
massacre,  and  of  the  sad  fortunes  of  the  survivors, 
has  been  made  familiar  by  the  narratives  of  Mrs. 
Helm,  Mrs.  Kinzie,  and  others,  and  need  not  be 
enlarged  upon.  Mrs.  Helm  afterwards  discovered 
the  scalps  of  some  of  the  victims,  for  which  boun- 
ties had  been  paid  by  Colonel  Proctor,  and  her 
fearless  exposure  of  the  fact  led  to  further  im- 
prisonment and  insult. 

In  his  narrative,  and  in  his  defence,  Hull  claims 
to  have  had  no  military  authority  except  over 
Michigan  and  the  army  at  Detroit,  and  towards 
the  Maumee.  He  even  asserts  the  fall  of  Chicago 
as  having  added  to  the  Maiden  troops  before  the 
surrender,  and    as    having    been    referred    to  in  a 


296  BATTLE  OF  MONGUAGON.  [Chap.  XI. 

letter  received  by  him  on  the  6th  of  August. 
Chicago  was  not  connected  with  any  of  his  com- 
mand; and  the  mystery  remains  why  he  ventured 
to  assume  such  an  authority,  and  why,  if  having 
authority,  he  could  have  been  so  utterly  ignorant 
and  reckless  as  to  send  what,  if  obeyed,  was  a 
death  warrant.  And  it  is  still  further  a  mystery 
what  spy  or  traitor  at  once  disclosed  and  circu- 
lated the  news.  It  is  said  to  have  become  known 
afterwards  that  the  Indians  were  acting  under 
British  orders,  but  whether  this  be  so  or  not,  they 
certainly  got  their  intelligence  from  that  quarter, 
and  it  started  as  soon  as  Winimeg,  who  did  not 
get  his  own  knowledge  from  Hull. 

On  the  8th  of  August,  Colonel  Miller  set  out 
with  a  detachment  towards  the  Raisin,  to  join 
Captain  Brush.  They  rested  at  Monguagon  that 
night.  The  next  morning  they  had  an  encounter 
with  a  strong  force  of  British  and  Indians,  in 
which  Miller  was  victorious.  He  was  compelled, 
however,  after  waiting  in  vain  for  provisions,  to 
return. 

On  the  i  2th  or  13th,  Brock  arrived  at  Maiden, 
with  40  regulars  and  260  militia.  At  this  time 
the  American  outpost  in  Sandwich  had  been 
evacuated,  and  the  British  began  constructing 
batteries  near  by.  On  the  evening  of  the  14th, 
they  were  discovered,  and  Captain  Dalliba  asked 
leave  to  attack  them,  and  said :  "  Sir,  if  you  will 
give  me  permission,  I  will  clear  the  enemy  on  the 
opposite    shore    from    the    lower  batteries."       The 


Chap.  XL]  McARTHUR  AND  CASS  DETACHED.  297 

General  answered :  "  Mr.  Dalliba,  I  will  make  an 
agreement  with  the  enemy,  that  if  they  will  never 
fire  on  me,  I  will  never  fire  on  them/'  completing 
his  answer  with  the  aphorism,  "  Those  who  live 
in  glass  houses,  must  take  care  how  they  throw 
stones." 

The  Canada  batteries  were  in  the  same  place 
with  those  which  had  been  erected  on  the  5  th  of 
July,  just  before  Hull  had.  arrived,  which  had  been 
broken  up  by  Captain  Dalliba,  under  Major 
Whistler's  orders,  before  Hull's  arrival,  from  the 
24-pounder  battery  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town. 
Whistler  was  then  in  command.  On  the  14th, 
Hull  ordered  McArthur  and  Cass  to  march  with  a 
considerable  force  to  the  River  Raisin,  by  an 
inland  trail  running  back  from  the  border,  by  the 
way  which  has  since  been  known  as  the  Ypsilanti 
and  Tecumseh  trail,  striking  the  Raisin  some  dis- 
tance up,  at  Godfroy's  trading  post.  This  road  had 
been  taken  by  General  Wayne  when  he  first  came 
to  Detroit.  Captain  Brush  had  been  directed,  on 
the  14th,  to  go  up  and  meet  them.  On  the  15th, 
Brock  unmasked  his  battery,  and  sent  over  a 
demand  for  a  surrender,  coupled  with  the  stereo- 
typed threat,  that  if  resisted,  he  could  not  control 
the  Indians,  This  demand  was  received  by  Hull 
about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  this  time  a 
court  of  inquiry  was  sitting  to  examine  into  the 
surrender  at  Mackinaw.  Upon  seeing  the  white 
Hag,  Colonel  Miller  adjourned  the  court,  and 
Captains  Fuller  and  Snelling  were  sent  to  receive 


298  BRITISH   SUMMONS   REJECTED.  [Chap.  XI. 

the  flag.  Lieutenant  Colonel  McDonald  and 
Captain  Gleig  were  the  bearers,  and  were  taken 
blindfolded  to  the  house  of  Major  Henry  J.  Hunt, 
and  detained  for  Hull's  answer.  The  answer  was 
not  given  until  about  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
when  it  was  handed  over.  This  reply  was  a  proper 
one,  that  the  general  was  prepared  to  meet 
Brock's  force  and  any  consequences  from  its  use. 
It  contained,  in  addition,  a  disclaimer  of  two  acts 
in  Canada,  one  an  unauthorized  flag  of  truce 
which  had  gone  about  a  month  before,  while  Cass 
was  at  the  Canard,  without  that  officer's  know- 
ledge, and  the  other  the  burning  of  a  house  when 
the  battery  in  Canada  was  abandoned  a  few 
days  before,  either  destroyed  by  accident  or  by 
others  than  the  troops.  It  does  not  appear  that 
any  explanation  had  been  demanded  of  these  acts, 
or  that  complaint  had  been  made  of  them  recently, 
if  at  all.  On  the  same  day,  Hull  sent  out  a 
message  to  recall  Cass  and  McArthur.  They  had 
been  gone  not  far  from  twenty-four  hours  when 
the  messenger  started,  and  had  been  sent  on 
urgent  business.  They  were  reached  in  the  even- 
ing of  the  15th,  and  the  detachment  hurried 
back  by  a  night  march,  and  arrived  at  the  River 
Rouge  the  next  morning,  about  the  time  of  the 
surrender. 

On  receiving  Hull's  message,  the  Canadian 
guns  opened  upon  the  town,  and  the  cannonade 
was  kept  up  until  late  in  the  night,  being  vigor- 
ously responded  to  from  the  American  batteries,  not 


Chap.  XL]  PREPARATIONS  FOR  ATTACK.  299 

without  effect.  The  summons  was  understood  to 
be  the  prelude  to  an  attack,  and  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  15th,  Major  (afterwards  General)  Jessup, 
who  was  Hull's  brigade-major,  inquired  into  the 
arrangement  of  the  forces,  which  were  all  ordered 
to  be  posted  in  proper  positions.  Colonel  Brush 
was  to  command  the  Michigan  militia,  at  the  up- 
per end  of  the  town,  which  bordered  on  his  farm. 
Colonel  Findlay's  regiment  and  the  Michigan  Le- 
gion, (a  corps  of  four  companies  of  experienced 
soldiers,  under  Major  Witherell,  Judge  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  and  a  Revolutionary  officer,)  were 
to  form  back  of  the  town,  where  the  remainder 
of  McArthur's  and  Cass's  regiments  were  also 
stationed.  These  positions  not  being  well-chosen, 
were  changed  before  daylight  the  next  morning, 
so  that  Findlay's  regiment  was  moved  further 
west,  where  he  commanded  the  approaches  to  the 
town  under  cover  of  lines  of  high  picket  fences 
along  the  road ;  and  the  other  Ohio  troops  were 
subsequently,  or  about  the  same  time,  joined  to 
his. 

The  movement  of  the  enemy  towards  Spring- 
wells,  and  the  collecting  of  boats  and  moving  up 
of  British  vessels,  began  before  dark  on  the  15th. 
Captain  Snelling  had  been  sent  down  to  the  Sand 
Hill,  with  a  few  men  and  a  small  field-piece,  to 
watch  the  crossing  and  report,  and  to  return  be- 
fore daylight.  It  was  urged  by  him,  and  by  Major 
Jessup  and  General  Taylor,  that  one  or  two 
24-pounders    could    be    placed    so    as  to  drive  off 


300  NON-RESISTANCE.  [Chap.  XI. 

the  vessels  and  command  the  crossing.  A  proper 
place  was  found  on  high  ground,  but  Hull  re- 
fused, on  various  pretexts,  all  of  which  were  shown 
to  be  insufficient.  Both  Jessup  and  Snelling  begged 
permission  to  cross  and  spike  the  guns,  but  vainly. 
No  movement  was  made  by  the  enemy  to  cross 
during  the  night,  nor  until  7  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  1 6th.  At  this  time  the  troops  and 
guns  were  all  well  posted  near  the  town,  so  as 
to  command  the  approaches,  and  Lieutenant  An- 
derson had  a  battery  on  the  bluff  directly  com- 
manding the  road  and  ravine  where  the  British 
would  be  obliged  to  cross  the  Savoyard  on  a 
narrow  bridge.  No  resistance  was  made  to  their 
landing  at  Springwells,  and  no  attempt  was  made 
to  harass  them  on  the  road — about  three  miles 
long — which  was  lined  most  of  the  way,  on  one 
or  both  sides,  with  close  pickets  and  orchards, 
which  could  have  been  made  available  to  annoy 
them.  There  were  also  two  or  three  bridges  along 
the  road,  the  destruction  of  which  would  have 
made  any  approach  difficult.  The  British  bat- 
teries in  Canada  opened  in  the  morning,  and  were 
answered  from  the  American  batteries. 

After  some  time  two  balls  took  effect  in  the 
fort,  killing  Lieutenant  Hanks,  Lieutenant  Sibley, 
Dr.  Reynolds,  and  two  privates,  and  wounding  Dr. 
Blood.  Up  to  this  time,  the  forces  outside  had 
not  been  allowed  to  do  anything  against  the  ene- 
my, who  were  advancing  750  strong  up  the  River 
Road.     Upon  the  fatal  result  of  these  balls,  which 


Chap.  XI. J  HULL'S   AGITATION.  301 

appeared  to  bewilder  and  terrify  him,  Hull  im- 
mediately sent  over  his  son  and  aid  (Captain  A. 
F.  Hull)  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  Canada,  to  Gen- 
eral Brock,  whom  he  supposed  to  be  there.  At 
this  time,  and  through  the  morning  of  the  16th, 
(although  there  was  some  conflict  as  to  the  ap- 
pearances on  the  15th),  there  was  a  general  agree- 
ment among  the  majority  of  the  witnesses  that 
Hull  showed  signs  of  extreme  agitation  and  fear ; 
that  his  appearance  was  squalid,  and  his  face  stained 
and  filthy  with  tobacco  juice,  and  his  self-posses- 
sion entirely  destroyed. 

It  has  been  gravely  urged  that  opinions  of 
eye-witnesses  cannot  be  given  to  show  their  im- 
pression of  a  man's  state  of  mind,  from  the  ap- 
pearance of  his  countenance  and  his  actions. 
General  Hull  has  laid  great  stress  upon  this,  and 
some  others  have  thoughtlessly  followed  him,  and 
arraigned  the  court  martial  as  unfair  for  receiv- 
ing it.  Such  an  objection  is  so  palpably  absurd 
to  any  one  who  has  ever  paid  attention  to  testi- 
mony, and  the  means  of  proof  of  human  emo- 
tions and  sentiments,  that  it  is  surprising  it  was 
ever  started.  That  this  testimony  produced  great 
effect  was  inevitable,  as  it  was  very  plain  and 
forcible,  and  harmonized  with  the  surroundings. 
It  convinced  the  court,  as  it  has  convinced  others, 
and  as  it  can  hardly  fail  to  convince  any  one  who 
does  not  accept  General  Hull's  theory,  which  seems 
to  have  been  that  the  witnesses  were  perjured 
conspirators,  and    the    court    a    forsworn    body    of 


302  SURRENDER. 


[Chap.  XI. 


administration  satellites,  bound  to  make  him  a 
scapegoat  for  the  transgressions  of  the  President 
and  War  Department. 

During  this  time  the  British,  under  Brock, 
were  advancing  up  the  road,  and  approaching 
within  a  mile  of  the  fort.  Hull  ordered  Findlay's 
regiment  to  march  into  the  fort,  where  there  was 
no  room  for  such  a  crowd  to  do  anything.  Be- 
fore they  reached  it,  he  hoisted  a  white  flag,  and 
had  sent  to  General  Brock  announcing  that  he 
would  surrender.  And  he  did  surrender,  under 
the  same  abject  terror  and  bewilderment,  without 
the  ordinary  terms.  His  troops  were  not  even  al- 
lowed the  honors  of  war,  nor  permitted  to  be 
discharged  on  parole,  nor  was  any  arrangement 
made  for  the  benefit  of  the  Canadians  who  had 
accepted  his  protection.  He  put  himself  entirely 
in  the  control  of  Brock,  by  offering  surrender 
without  any  previous  parley,  and  the  articles  as 
•drawn  and  signed  by  the  officers  on  both  sides, 
were  as  nearly  as  possible  the  terms  of  an  un- 
conditional surrender.  He  had  difficulty  in  getting 
any  officers  to  represent  him  at  all,  and  only 
succeeded  upon  the  representation  that  it  was  his 
act  and  not  theirs. 

A  supplementary  article  allowed  the  Ohio 
troops  to  go  home  on  parole.  A  second  supple- 
ment gave  the  same  privilege  to  Major  Witherell's 
Michigan  troops.  These  conditions  were  no  part 
of  the  original  stipulation,  nor  is  it  explained  how 
or    why    they    were    made.     Cass    and   McArthur 


Chap.  XI.]  TERMS   OF   CAPITULATION. 


303 


had  not  come  in,  and  might  easily  have  escaped. 
The  capitulation  would,  no  doubt,  —  and  Hull  so 
intimates,  —  have  been  gladly  accepted  without 
them,  rather  than  not  obtained,  and  he  says  he 
included  them  for  their  own  safety.  Brock  was  in 
great  dread  that  they  would  attack  him  in  the  rear, 
and  if  the  fort  had  held  out  an  hour  or  two  he 
would  have  been  in  a  very  perilous  condition. 
He  states  that  he  hastened  his  movements  to 
reach  the  fort,  and  attack  it,  before  McArthur 
could  come  up,  knowing  him  to  be  near.  No 
proof  could  be  more  conclusive  that  he  knew  Hull 
would  capitulate ;  for  the  idea  of  a  garrison  of 
larger  force  than  the  assailants  being  unable 
to  defend  themselves  for  two  or  three  hours, 
never  could  have  entered  the  head  of  that 
gallant  soldier.1  He  says  in  his  report,  somewhat 
cautiously :  "  Certain  considerations  induced  me 
to  agree  to  the  two  supplementary  articles." 
What  these  considerations  were,  he  does  not  ex- 
plain. General  Hull  himself  refers  to  them  as 
separate  private  agreements.  No  doubt  it  was 
for  Brock's  advantage  not  to  have  to  furnish  ra- 
tions to  so  large  a  body  of  men,  nor  could  he 
probably  have  felt  very  safe  in  having  a  force  of 
unparoled  prisoners  larger  than  his  own  army. 
He    may    also    have    had    some  compunctions    for 

1  In  a  private  letfer   to    one    of   his    brothers,    General    Brock    says  : 

"  I  crossed  the  river,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Colonel  Proctor, ,  &c. ; 

it  is,  therefore,  no  wonder  that  envy  should  attribute  to  good  fortune 
what,  in  justice  to  my  own  discernment,  I  must  say  proceeded  from  a 
cool  calculation  of  the  pours  and  contresP — Life,  p.  267. 


304  HULL  PAROLED.  [Chap.  XI. 

General  Hull,  whose  condemnation  and  punish- 
ment for  such  an  unconditional  surrender  could 
not  have  been  avoided.  The  article  concerning 
the  Ohio  troops  was  made  very  shortly,  and  on 
the  same  day.  Cass  and  McArthur  had  sent  up 
Captain  Mansfield  to  inquire  into  the  terms  of 
the  surrender,  with  notice  that  they  should  not 
submit  if  it  was  unconditional.  That  concern- 
ing the  Michigan  troops  must  have  been  made 
later,  as  Major  Witherell  was  taken  down  the 
lake  as  a  prisoner,  and  only  submitted  to  parole 
at  Kingston.  There  is  something  curious  about 
this,  as  Brock's  report  implies  that  it  was  made 
as  early  as  the  17th.  General  Hull  was,  on  his 
arrival  at  Montreal,  offered  his  discharge  on  parole, 
by  Sir  George  Prevost,  without  request,  and  was 
allowed  to  go  home.  The  other  officers  who  had 
been  captured  at  Detroit,  or  while  fighting  else- 
where, were  not  so  easily  parted  with.  General 
Brock's  reports  are  destitute  of  any  expressions 
of  respect  towards  General  Hull,  and  the  contem- 
porary reports  of  the  private  statements  of  Gen- 
eral Brock,  and  other  British  officers,  indicate  that 
they  did  not  regard  him    favorably. l 

The  garrison  and  forces  thus  basely  surrend- 
ered were  enraged  and  confounded,  as  well  they 
might  be.  The  American  force  at  Detroit,  with- 
out counting  Cass  and  McArthur's  detachments, 
exceeded  Brock's  white  army  by  about  400.  Upon 
this  the  testimony  is    full.     It   is  very  well  known 

1  3  Niles  Reg.,  44. 


Chap.  XL]        CONTEMPORANEOUS   EVENTS   ELSEWHERE. 


305 


that  Indians  were  never  of  any  use  against  a  gar- 
rison in  camp ;  and  the  forces  of  Cass  and  Mc- 
Arthur,  with  the  rest,  far  exceeded  Brock's  whites 
and  Indians  together.  When  we  remember  the 
previous  sieges  of  Detroit,  under  Dubuisson  and 
Gladwin,  and  the  subsequent  events  at  Fort  Meigs 
and  Fort  Stephenson,  the  course  of  Hull  becomes 
so  astounding  that  it  excites  our  amazement  to 
know  what  men  can  be  led  to  do,  when  their 
judgment  and  courage  have  utterly  deserted  them. 

On  the  very  day  when  Detroit  was  surrendered, 
Fort  Dearborn  —  evacuated  the  day  before  under 
Hull's  orders  —  was  burned.  At  the  same  time 
another  Hull  was  actively  engaged  in  looking  after 
enemies  on  the  ocean  ;  and  three  days  thereafter, 
in  the  Constitution,  captured  the  Guerriere  from  a 
gallant  enemy,  Captain  Dacres,  who  was  not  long 
after  exchanged  for  Colonel  Miller,  one  of  the 
noblest  soldiers  of  any  of  our  wars. 

On  the  17th  of  August,  Captain  Elliott  made 
his  appearance  at  Brush's  camp,  near  Godfroy's 
post  on  the  Raisin,  and  claimed  his  surrender 
under  the  capitulation.  The  outlying  troops  were 
not  included  in  the  articles,  but  Hull  undertook 
to  cover  them  afterwards.  It  being  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  Colonel  Anderson,  Captains  Rowland 
and  Brush,  and  the  remaining  officers,  that  they 
were  not  within  the  surrender,  they  declined  to 
accede  to  the  demand.  Captain  Rowland  was  in 
favor  of  remaining  in   camp    and    keeping    up    the 

20 


306 


TWO  COURTS  MARTIAL.  [Chap.  XI. 


post.  In  this  he  was  overruled,  and  the  troops 
retired.  Captain  Brush  having  been  tried  by 
court  martial  for  an  alleged  violation  of  duty  in 
regard  to  the  surrender,  the  court  unanimously 
decided  that  his  course  in  refusing  to  hold  it 
binding  on  his  force  was  correct  and  laudable. 

A  court  martial  was  ordered  in  January,  1813, 
to  meet  on  the  25th  day  of  February,  181 3,  to  try 
General  Hull.  This  court  was  dissolved  without 
meeting.  A  second  court  convened  at  Albany  on 
the  3d  of  January,  1814,  consisting  of  Major 
General  Henry  Dearborn,  President ;  Brigadier 
General  Joseph  Bloomfield,  Colonels  Peter  Little, 
William  N.  Irvine,  J.  R.  Fenwick,  and  Robert 
Bogardus  ;  and  Lieutenant  Colonels  James  House, 
William  Scott,  William  Stewart,  Samuel  S.  Conner, 
S.  B.  Davis,  and  John  W.  Livingston.  Martin 
Van  Buren  acted  as  special  judge  advocate,  Philip 
S.  Parker  being  army  judge  advocate. 

The  trial  was  had  on  the  charges  and  specifi- 
cations drawn  up  by  Alexander  J.  Dallas  for  the 
first  court,  including  charges  of  (1)  treason,  (2) 
cowardice,  and  (3)  neglect  of  duty.  He  was  ac- 
quitted upon  the  charge  of  treason,  and  convicted 
upon  the  other  two  charges,  though  acquitted  on 
some  of  the  particular  specifications  under  charges 
2  and  3. 

The  charges  of  cowardice  on  which  he  was 
convicted  embraced,  first,  his  retreat  from  Canada 
after  his  entry  and  proclamation,  and  other  pro- 
fessions of  activity ;  second,  fear  shown  during  the 


Chap.  XI. J  FINDINGS  OF  THE  COURT. 


307 


cannonade  and  at  various  times ;  third,  a  series 
of  delinquencies  on  the  1 6th  day  of  August,  embrac- 
ing cowardly  acts  and  expressions,  skulking  from 
danger,  making  no  attempt  to  prevent  the  enemy's 
crossing,  making  no  personal  reconnoissance  on 
their  approach,  and  failing  to  offer  battle,  and 
other  acts  immediately  connected  with  the  sur- 
render. These  last  were  hastily  sending  out  flags 
of  truce  for  surrender,  keeping  away  from  the 
troops  in  a  place  of  safety,  giving  fluctuating, 
inconsistent,  and  in  some  cases  incoherent  orders, 
calling  troops  from  without  into  the  fort  where 
they  were  over-crowded,  and  the  precipitate 
declaration  of  surrender  before  asking  for  terms. 
Fourth,  because  in  his  surrender  he  did  not  require 
that  his  men  should  receive  the  honors  of  war ; — 
that  he  did  not  stipulate  for  protection  to  the 
Canadians  who  had  joined  him,  and  who  would 
otherwise  be  liable  for  treason ;  that  he  did  not 
reserve  the  right  to  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  but  turned  everything  over  to  the  enemy ; 
and  that  the  surrender  was  not  due  either  to  the 
superior  force  or  means  of  the  enemy,  or  to  lack 
of  means  in  his  own  army. 

The  specifications  of  neglect  of  duty  on  which 
he  was  convicted  were,  first,  a  neglect  to  inspect, 
train,  review  and  order  his  men,  between  their 
arrival  at  Detroit  and  surrender.  The  charges  ol 
previous  neglect  were  not  sustained,  because  there 
was  no  opportunity  on  the  march.  Second,  his 
delays  in  Canada ;    third,  allowing  his  communica- 


308  CONDUCT  OF  THE  COURT.  [Chap.  XI. 

tions  to  be  cut  off,  and  failing  to  supply  and 
support  Van  Home.  He  was  acquitted  of  any 
criminal  negligence  in  failing  to  supply  Colonel 
Miller.  Fourth,  his  failure  to  advance  upon  Maiden 
after  Cass  had  taken  the  bridge  on  the  Canard 
River ;  fifth,  neglect  to  prevent  the  erection  of  the 
Sandwich  batteries,  or  to  fortify  at  Springwells, 
in  advance  of  the  landing,  or  to  annoy  or  oppose 
the  enemy  while  landing. 

It  has  been  intimated  that  the  court  made  a 
wholesale  and  indiscriminate  finding,  and  that  the 
verdict  was  only  qualified  enough  to  give  an  ap- 
pearance of  deliberation.  This  is  not  a  fair  state- 
ment. There  was  testimony,  which,  if  this  had 
been  a  trial  by  jury,  would  have  authorized  them 
to  consider  every  one  of  the  charges  and  speci- 
fications from  treason  downwards.  That,  in  weigh- 
ing the  testimony,  the  court  regarded  the  treason 
as  not  proven,  does  not  indicate  that  the  charge 
was  frivolous.  Their  conclusion  was  satisfactory 
to  candid  minds.  If  it  had  not  been,  public  opin- 
ion would  have  criticized  the  remission  of  the 
penalty  for  the  other  acts.  The  editor  of  Niles' 
Register,  after  the  first  publication  of  General 
Hull's  statements,  used  this  language:  "We  have 
now  before  us  the  letters  of  this  unfortunate  com- 
mander. If  we  give  all  faith  to  everything  he 
says,  we  must  acquit  him  of  treachery,  though  we 
may  form  opinions  of  his  conduct  almost  as  dis- 
honorable   to    him/' '     His    letters    contained    the 

i  3  Niles  R.,  57. 


Chap.  XI.]  CONDUCT  OF  THE  COURT. 


309 


whole  substance  of  his  subsequent  defence,  con- 
tradicting some  things  sworn  to  by  witnesses 
afterwards ;  and  this  was  not  the  verdict  of  an 
enemy.  Under  the  charge  of  cowardice  he  was 
convicted  of  every  specification  but  one,  which 
was  that  he  was  guilty  of  "  forbidding  the  Ameri- 
can artillery  to  fire  on  the  enemy  on  their  march 
to  Detroit."  The  evidence  on  this,  though  con- 
flicting, was  that  Anderson  was  reserving  his  fire 
until  the  enemy  got  in  grape-shot  range,  near  the 
crossing  of  the  Savoyard,  and  the  white  flag  went 
up  before  they  got  there.  The  other  specific 
charges  have  been  mentioned  above. 

Under  the  charges  of  neglect  of  duty,  he  was 
acquitted  of  some  very  serious  charges.  Among 
those  not  before  mentioned,  and  not  found  sus- 
tained, were  neglect  in  sending  up  the  vessels  from 
Maumee,  when  he  had  reason  to  believe  there 
was  war,  or  likelihood  of  it ;  and  neglect  in  put- 
ting the  post  in  proper  order,  and  in  using  dili- 
gence to  expedite  his  artillery  preparations.  That 
there  was  carelessness  in  regard  to  the  vessels 
can  hardly  be  questioned,  but  it  was  not  criminal 
carelessness  of  such  a  degree  as  to  require  severe 
judgment.  Upon  the  other  matters,  it  appears  the 
fort  was  not  out  of  repair  to  any  serious  extent, 
and  that  he  had  been  reasonably  diligent  in  giving 
orders  for  the  artillery  preparations. 

Upon  the  other  points  there  was  really  no 
conflict  of  fact,  unless  it  may  be  supposed  to  have 
arisen    upon    the    question    of  his    state  of   mind. 


310  HULL'S   DEFENCE. 


[Chap.  XI. 


He  never  seriously  asserted  that  he  had  done  the 
acts  which  he  was  charged  with  omitting.  He 
claimed  that  some  of  them  were  not  feasible,  or' 
that  he  had  reason  to  fear  either  that  they  could 
not  be  done  at  all,  or  could  not  be  done  without 
incurring  risks  which  he  felt  bound  to  avoid. 
And  he  also  relied  to  some  extent  upon  the  ground 
that,  as  matters  had  been  left  to  his  discretion,  he 
was  not  subject  to  censure  or  responsibility  for 
following  it. 

If  the  defence  of  General  Hull  against  the 
verdict  of  public  opinion  merely  involved  himself, 
no  one  would  desire  to  dwell  upon  the  unfortunate 
occurrences,  beyond  such  reference  as  could  not 
be  avoided.  That  the  surrender  was  unnecessary, 
and  that  Hull  could  not  only  have  saved  Detroit 
but  taken  Maiden,  no  one  can  doubt  who  believes 
in  any  ordinary  probabilities.  Nor  is  there  any 
more  doubt  that  most  commanders  would  have 
done  both.  No  one  grudges  the  sparing  of  his 
life,  or  disputes  the  propriety  of  recognizing  his 
honorable  record  in  the  Revolution,  as  rendering 
his  pardon  proper.  And  few  would  care  to  inquire 
whether  the  loss  of  his  earlier  intrepidity  was  due 
to  physical  infirmity,  or  a  charge  beyond  his 
capacity  to  manage,  or  to  both.  He  was  manifestly 
unfit  for  his  military  responsibilities,  in  the  shape 
in  which  they  fell  upon  him,  and  he  did  not  design 
to  be  treacherous. 

But  the  case  which  he  undertook  to  make  by 
his    defence    did    not  rest  upon  any  personal    dis- 


Chap.  XI. J  HULL'S   DEFENCE 


311 


ability  to  do  what  others  might  have  done.  It 
was  not  apologetic,  but  was  rested  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  not  lost  his  self-possession,  but  had 
acted  deliberately,  and  done  what  ought  to  have 
been  done  by  any  competent  and  prudent  com- 
mander. And  it  rested  on  the  further  claim  that 
a  fair  court  could  not  have  found  against  him  on 
any  charge,  and  that  the  witnesses  and  court  were 
both  determined  and  employed  to  ruin  him,  in 
order  to  cover  up  their  own  defaults  and  the  sins 
of  the  administration.  In  this  point  of  view  the 
inquiry  concerns  the  truth  of  history,  and  concerns 
also  the  reputation  of  men  without  whose  services 
Michigan  would  still  have  been  a  Canadian 
Province. 

Attempts  have  been  made  by  many  historians 
to  reverse  the  judgments  of  past  generations,  and 
rehabilitate  those  who  have  been  under  censure. 
Such  attempts  are  usually,  —  however  fairly  de- 
signed, and,  however  plausible,  —  extremely  so- 
phistical, and  disregard  the  contemporary  views  of 
single  as  well  as  combined  facts.  There  is  but  one 
case  in  which  they  can  be  very  serviceable.  It 
sometimes  happens  that  there  is  newly  discovered 
evidence,  which  should  be  allowed  weight.  Even 
this,  however,  is  not  always  decisive.  After  the 
lapse  of  many  years,  it  may  easily  be  conjectured 
that  something  has  been  overlooked  which  was 
not  in  fact  overlooked,  but  was  not  regarded  as 
trustworthy  and  conclusive.  In  General  Hull's  case 
we  know  what  testimony    convicted    him,    and    we 


31 2  JUSTICE  OF  THE  VERDICT.  [Chap.  XI. 

know  what  testimony  he  claimed  was  not  produced. 
We  have  not,  as  the  court  had,  the  power  of  see- 
ing the  demeanor  of  the  witnesses,  or  of  the 
prisoner  on  the  trial,  nor  that  of  seeing  the  various 
persons  engaged  in  the  drama.  But  so  far  as 
personal  qualities  are  concerned,  the  estimates 
and  opinions  of  eye  witnesses  and  acquaintances, 
and  the  substantial  agreement  of  public  sentiment, 
are  generally  safer  than  the  conclusions  of  their 
successors  possibly  can  be ;  and  courts  of  justice 
as  well  as  the  court  of  public  opinion  so  regard 
them.  The  reputation  of  many  of  the  witnesses, 
and  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  court,  is 
familiar  to  all  readers  of  history,  and  they  were 
personally  known  to  very  many  yet  surviving  in 
this  region ;  and  both  their  honesty  and  their 
judgment  are  held  in  esteem. 

If  the  court  had  full  reason  to  believe,  and 
did  believe,  that  Hull  had  failed  to  do  what  every 
commander  of  ordinary  firmness  and  capacity 
should  have  done  in  his  position,  there  was  no 
escape  from  this  verdict.  Every  man  who,  in 
civil  or  military  pursuits,  undertakes  an  office 
requiring  skill  and  firmness,  is  liable  to  all  the 
consequences  arising  from  his  not  possessing  them; 
and  is  morally  as  well  as  legally  blameworthy  for 
the  failure.  Any  fear  of  consequences,  which  it 
is  a  wrong  in  a  military  commander  to  be  governed 
by,  is  cowardice,  whether  in  its  meanest  and  most 
selfish  form  or  not.  A  man  who  for  any  reason 
is  afraid  to  do  his  duty,  cannot  avoid  that  imputa- 


Chap.  XL]  MILITARY    RESPONSIBILITY.  313 

tion.  It  is  rightly  regarded  in  military  law  as 
next  to  treason,  because  it  demoralizes  soldiers 
and  breaks  up  the  power  of  the  government. 
The  recent  case  of  Bazaine  is  one  where  no  one 
ever  suspected  that  officer  of  personal  poltroonery, 
yet  where  he  was  justly  sentenced  to  death  for 
his  neglect  of  duty,  in  not  acting  with  that  courage 
and  persistency  which  the  case  demanded.  The 
remission  was  properly  left  to  the  pardoning 
power,  and  not  assumed  by  the  court.  If  Hull 
was  guilty  at  all,  his  military  offence  was  very 
great,  and  the  terrible  consequences  which  actually 
followed  were  what  might  have  been  expected. 
The  country  came  back  under  the  control  of  the 
British,  and  under,  the  ravages  of  the  Indians. 
The  advantages  of  Wayne's  and  Harrison's  victories 
were  all  lost  for  a  season,  and  the  ground  was 
only  regained  after  many  bloody  battles  and  cruel 
massacres.  Hull  no  doubt  deluded  himself  at  the 
time,  (or  more  probably  afterwards  deluded  him- 
self into  thinking  he  had  been  led  at  the  time) 
into  believing  these  events  might  be  spared.  But 
he  was,  nevertheless,  responsible  for  what  he 
ought  to  have  foreseen,  and  this  blindness  was 
itself,  if  he  was  not  entirely  right,  one  of  the 
blamable  results  of  his  self-deception. 

The  principal  charges  against  others  on  which 
Hull  relied  for  vindication  are  in  the  nature  of 
what  might  be  termed  impeaching  testimony,  as 
indicating  faults,  and  attempts  to  conceal  them 
by    sinister    means.      In    his    original    defence    all 


314  AFTERTHOUGHTS. 


TCHAP.  XI. 


of  those  were  set  out  which  then  occurred  to 
him,  or  which  were  deemed  appropriate.  Nearly 
ten  years  later,  when  the  general  knowledge  of 
facts  may  be  supposed  to  have  lost  some  of  its 
sharpness  of  outline,  an  elaborate  series  of  me- 
moirs was  printed,  which  left  out  nothing,  but  in- 
troduced some  new  suggestions  and  enlarged  and 
dwelt  more  fully  upon  some  old  ones.  The  first 
great  complaint  was  against  the  administration 
for  getting  him  into  trouble  in  the  first  instance, 
and  afterwards  trying  to  ruin  him  to  save  its  own 
credit,  by  avoiding  a  trial  as  long  as  it  dared,  and 
then  packing  the  court. 

Some  suggestions  in  the  memoir  as  to  the 
desire  to  use  these  means  in  furtherance  of  a 
Presidential  election,  would  not  have  been  made 
but  for  slips  of  memory.  Indeed,  while  it  is  the 
commonest  and  most  natural  thing  in  the  world 
for  a  well-meaning  man  charged  with  wrong  to 
try  to  persuade  himself  he  cannot  possibly  have 
done  it,  and  to  multiply  reasons  to  convince  him- 
self that  its  very  mischief  is  conclusive  that  he 
did  not  do  it,  such  self-deception  is  necessarily 
brought  about  by  means  which  are  not  satisfactory 
to  the  judgment  of  others.  Hull  speaks  of  him- 
self as  having  been  a  prisoner  during  a  consider- 
able period.  This  was  nominally  so,  as  he  was 
not  exchanged.  But  there  is  no  other  instance 
during  the  war  of  a  prisoner  of  his  rank  being 
so  soon  released  and  paroled,  with  or  without 
solicitation  ;    and  except  as  a  personal  favor  from 


Chap.  XL  J  HULL'S   DISCHARGE  ON   PAROLE. 


315 


the  enemy,  there  was  no  personally  creditable 
reason  for  it.1  He  was  at  home  within  a  little 
more  than  three  weeks  after  the  surrender — being 
discharged  as  soon  as  he  reached  Montreal.  He 
was  within  reach  of  the  press,  in  a  region  where 
the  administration  was  not  popular,  and  had  every 
facility  for  vindicating  himself  and  punishing  the 
administration  before  the  Presidential  election.  If 
this  was  not  a  proper  thing  for  him  to  do  before 
trial,  it  was  vigorously  done  by  some  one  on  his 
behalf,  and  the  trial  was  certainly  not  postponed 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  case  beyond  the 
election.  It  would  have  been  gross  injustice  to 
prefer  his  exchange  to  that  of  earlier  prisoners, 
though    he    had    been  bravest  of  the  brave.     But 

i  The  real  reason  is  given  in  a  letter  from  Colonel  Baynes  to  General 

Brock,  September  ioth,   1812.  Colonel  Baynes  was    Adjutant    General    of 

Canada,  and  an  officer  of  high  standing,  who  was  a  confidential  corres- 
pondent of  General  Brock. 

"  Sir  George  has  also  consented  to  allow  General  Hull  to  return  upon 
his  parole :  he  is  loud  in  his  complaints  against  the  government  at 
Washington,  and  the  general  thinks  that  his  voice,  in  the  general  cry, 
may  be  attended  with  beneficial  effects,  and  has  allowed  him  to  return 
and  enter  the  lists.  General  Hull  appears  to  possess  less  feeling  and 
sense  of  shame  than  any  man  in  his  position  could  be  supposed  to  do. 
He  seems  to  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  himself,  is  lavish  of  censure  upon 
his  government,  but  appears  to  think  that  the  most  scrupulous  cannot  attach 
the  slightest  blame  to  his  own  immediate  conduct  at  Detroit.  The  grounds 
upon  which  he  rests  his  defence  are  not,  I  fancy,  well  founded,  for  he 
told  us  that  he  had  not  gunpowder  at  Detroit  for  the  service  of  one  day. 
Sir  George  has  since  shown  him  the  return  of  the  large  supply  found  in 
the  fort ;  it  did  not  create  a  blush,  but  he  made  no  reply.  He  professes 
great  surprise  and  admiration  at  the  zeal  and  military  preparation  that  he 
has  everywhere  witnessed ;  that  it  was  entirely  unlooked  for,  and  that  he 
has  no  doubt  that  his  friend,  General  Dearborn,  will  share  his  fate,  if  he 
has  the  imprudence  to  follow  his  example.  Hull  seems  cunning  and 
unprincipled :  how  much  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on  his  professions,  time 
will  show." — P.  289-90. 


316  CAUSES   FOR    DELAY  OF  TRIAL.  [Chap.  XL 

an  exchange  could  not  have  been  made,  and  a 
trial  had,  before  the  election,  even  if  he  had  been 
the  first  to  be  cared  for.  A  note*  from  Eustis  to 
Dearborn,  which  is  especially  relied  on  as  indicat- 
ing preparations  to  aid  the  election,  was  written 
December  18,  1812,  long  after  the  election  was  over. 

The  fact,  however,  that  a  trial  was  appointed 
for  February,  181 3,  and  then  prevented  and  not 
renewed  for  about  a  year,  is  a  circumstance 
which  does  call  for  explanation,  and  he  dwells  on 
it  as  showing  a  distrust  in  the  pliability  of  the 
first  court,  which  was  made  up  of  very  good  offi- 
cers. This  charge  is  very  disingenuous.  It  is  im- 
possible that  he  could  have  been  ignorant  of  the 
reason,  and  on  his  trial  no  such  ground  was  taken 
or  alluded  to.  The  facts  were  these :  On  the 
18th  of  January,  181 3,  official  announcement  was 
made  by  the  Adjutant  General,  of  the  exchange 
of  Hull,  McArthur,  Cass,  Findlay,  Miller,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  Detroit  prisoners,  with  Winfield 
Scott  and  others  from  other  quarters.  The  court 
martial  was  at  once  called  for  February  25th,  181 3. 
On  the  8th  of  February,  Sir  George  Prevost 
notified  our  government  that  he  did  not  recognize 
the  exchange,  for  reasons  which,  if  true,  were 
valid ;  and  that,  if  they  claimed  and  asserted  it, 
and  were  captured  again,  he  would  hold  them 
guilty  of  violating  their  parole.1  The  difficulty 
necessarily  stopped  the  trial,  and  the  matter  was 
not    settled    until    December,   181 3,2  when   he    was 

1  4  Niles  R.,  44.  2  5  Niles  R.,  213. 


Chap.  XL]  REASONS   FOR    DELAY.  31  / 

finally  exchanged,  and  a  second  court  martial  was 
called  at  once.  The  government  was  not  respon- 
sible for  the  delay,  and  it  is  very  questionable 
also,  (though  of  course  this  would  not  excuse  re- 
missness,) whether  the  delay  did  not  save  him 
from  some  peril.  There  was  the  same  opportun- 
ity and  temptation  to  pack  the  first  court  as  the 
second.  If  the  first  court  had  heard  the  testimony 
introduced  on  the  trial,  and  viewed  it,  as  they 
might  and  probably  would  have  done,  as  the 
second  court  did,  such  a  trial  and  conviction, 
coming  just  after  the  massacre  of  Frenchtown, 
would  not  have  been  free  from  the  dangerous 
pressure  of  the  general  horror  and  indignation 
arising  from  that  act,  which  was  the  sequel  to  the 
surrender;  and  mercy  would  have  been  very  doubt- 
ful. The  last  trial  was  held  when  the  mischief 
had  been  overcome  in  a  great  measure  by  the 
brilliant  successes  of  Perry  and  Harrison,  and  the 
country  restored ;  and  people  were  much  more 
disposed  to  be   lenient. 

The  idea  of  a  conspiracy  among  such  officers 
as  the  court  and  witnesses,  the  latter  of  whom 
had  no  losses  of  reputation  to  make  up,  and  had 
made  famous  names  by  their  subsequent  conduct, 
is  too  atrocious  to  discuss.  When  a  prisoner 
convicted  asks  the  world  to  presume  that  his  rep- 
utation is  to  be  so  sacredly  esteemed  as  to  raise 
presumptions  against  the  honor  of  a  dozen  men, 
who  have  been  much  better  known  and  tried  than 
he  ever  was,  and  who  have  acted  in  his  case  under 


318 


HULL'S   MEMOIRS,  |Chap.  XI. 


rules  generally  supposed  well  calculated  to  secure 
justice,,  he  goes  beyond  the  bounds  of  credulity. 
McArthur,  and  Cass,  and  Miller,  and  Van  Home, 
and  Jessup,  and  Whistler,  and  Snelling — to  say 
nothing  of  the  rest, — are  names  that,  in  Michigan 
at  least,  cannot  be  easily  smirched  with  suspicions 
of  cowardice,  or  conspiracy  or  perjury. 

The  memoirs  create  an  impression  that  Gene- 
ral Hull  had  dwelt  so  long  upon  his  case  as,  after 
ten  years,  to  have  persuaded  himself  that  all  of 
the  reasons  which  he  gives  why  he  ought  not  to 
have  expected  to  succeed,  or  to  do  anything  more 
than  he  did,  were  before  his  mind  and  deliberately 
acted  upon,  and  actually  governed  him.  Some 
facts  he  has  certainly  forgotten,  and  assumed  as 
very  different  from  what  they  appeared  in  other 
testimony  than  his,  which  is  at  least  as  reliable. 
In  regard  to  the  numbers  of  Brock's  troops,  he 
resorts  to  a  method  of  dealing  with  Colonel  Snel- 
ling's  testimony  which  is  so  absolutely  ridiculous 
as  to  excite  surprise.  Snelling  estimated  the  force 
of  Brock  at  750  regulars  and  militia,  which  is 
within  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  official  returns. 
On  the  trial,  General  Hull  (although  not  admitting 
its  accuracy)  did  not  question  the  effect  of  this 
testimony,  if  believed,  but  claimed  that,  whatever 
the  numbers  were,  it  was  not  the  force  present 
merely,  but  the  one  which  might  be  expected  to 
come  after  it,  which  he  had  reason  to  fear,  and 
which  made  a  surrender  proper  in  view  of  future 
dangers.     In  his  memoirs,  he  gravely    insists    that 


Chap.  XI.  |  UNRELIABLE  ASSERTIONS.  319 

Snelling's  language  indicated  that  750  was  only  a 
third  of  the  whole  force,  and  that  the  other  two- 
thirds  were  regulars  and  uniformed  troops,  instead 
of  showing  that  one-third  of  the  entire  force  of 
750  was  ordinary  militia,  and  two-thirds  uniformed 
regulars  and  militia.  It  appears  from  the  official 
reports  that  there  were  400  militia,  in  command 
of  a  major  and  four  captains,  and  330  regulars, 
consisting  of  30  Royal  artillery,  250  of  the  41st 
Regiment,  and  50  of  the  Royal  Newfoundland 
Regiment.  Colonel  Snelling  counted  them  by 
platoons,  and  his  count  was  therefore  very 
accurate,  and  slightly  in  excess. 

In  accounting  for  his  own  numbers,  Hull  is 
equally  unreliable.  He  represents  in  the  16th 
number  of  his  memoirs  that  1,200  Ohio  militia 
and  300  regulars  were  all  he  ever  had  regularly 
put  under  his  command,  and  that  "a  few  strag- 
gling volunteers,  from  the  novelty  of  the  scene, 
curiosity,  or  a  desire  to  see  the  country,  followed 
the  army  and  were  included  in  the  return."  Out 
of  those  he  intimates  that  several  details  were 
made  along  the  road,  and  several  invalids  left  be- 
hind, and  180  would  not  cross  the  river,  making 
with  the  rest,  at  least  300,  to  be  deducted  from 
his  army.  To  this  deficiency  was  added  an  offi- 
cer and  30  men  left  at  the  Raisin.  The  Michigan 
troops  were  summarily  disposed  of  by  represent- 
ing them  as  drawn  from  a  population  of  not  much 
more  than  4,000,  scattered  along  over  500  miles 
of  territory,  and  of  no  account. 


320  MATERIAL  OF  HULL'S  ARMY.  [Chap.  XT. 

The  Ohio  regiments  of  militia,  amounting  to 
1,200  or  more,  were  all  infantry.  In  addition  to 
this,  there  was  a  cavalry  force,  to  which  he  makes 
no  allusion.  The  whole  Ohio  troops,  at  the  small- 
est calculation,  were  reckoned  as  not  less  than 
1,500.  At  Fort  Findlay,  on  the  26th  of  June,  the 
rolls  showed  there  were  present  1,960  of  regulars 
and  volunteers.  The  evidence  on  the  trial  showed 
that  there  was  no  lack  of  dragoons,  to  go  on 
escort  duty  and  special  service,  and  none  of  these 
appear  to  have  been  regulars.  Two  troops  of 
cavalry  were  included  in  the  surrender.  The  as- 
sertion that  General  Brock's  return  of  2,500  troops 
captured  was  a  fiction  of  that  officer,  is  not  en- 
tirely satisfactory,  when  that  General  enumerates 
the  companies  and  regiments  taken;  and  their 
forces,  so  far  as  known,  would  accord  with  his 
aggregate  very  closely.  But  the  statements  con- 
cerning the  Michigan  troops  are  equally  fallacious. 
Although  the  population  was  small,  it  was  within 
a  narrow  region,  and  not  scattered  all  over.  The 
troops  are  shown,  by  clear  proofs,  to  have  been 
good  soldiers.  Colonel  Anderson,  who  command- 
ed the  2d  Regiment  on  the  Raisin,  showed  by  his 
letters  to  Hull  of  August  4th,  that  he  relied  on 
his  men  and  expected  them  to  fight,  and  they 
never  were  disparaged.  While  insinuations  are 
thrown  out  concerning  Colonel  Elijah  Brush's 
Regiment  at  Detroit  as  disaffected,  there  is  nothing 
to  indicate  they  were  well  -founded,  beyond  Hull's 
own  assertions.     Knaggs,  whom  he  reports  as  go- 


Chap.  XI.]  MICHIGAN  TROOPS 


321 


ing  over  to  the  enemy,  was  for  many  years  there- 
after government  interpreter.  Judge  Witherell's 
troops  are  passed  over  in  silence.  The  Legion, 
originally  organized  in  1805,  under  Colonel  Brush, 
was  a  thoroughly  reliable  force.  Captain  (after- 
wards Colonel)  Richard  Smythe,  a  very  gallant  offi- 
cer, commanded  a  company  of  horse  belonging  to 
it,  Hubert  La  Croix  was  captain  of  another 
company,  and  did  good  service  all  through  the 
troubles.  Stephen  Mack,  another  good  officer,  had 
a  third  company.  Antoine  Dequindre,  also  cap- 
tain in  it,  received  the  thanks  of  the  Michigan 
State  Legislature  many  years  after,  in  1845,  f°r 
Jiis  gallantry  at  Monguagon,  where  his  men  and 
all  the  Michigan  volunteers  under  Miller  were 
specially   commended. 

Justice  would  not  be  done  to  the  Michigan  troops 
by  leaving  the  character  of  the  First  Regiment 
undefended.  This  regiment  had  been  organized 
by  Colonel  Brush,  and  well  drilled,  long  before 
Hull's  arrival.  Colonel  Brush  was  a  very  brave 
man,  and  had  got  this  regiment  into  thorough 
effectiveness,  as  Hull's  own  course  shows, — inas- 
much as  he  posted  it  on  the  northeast  side  of  the 
town,  which  was  exposed  to  the  Indians.  Its  officers 
were  mostly  French  gentlemen  of  character  and 
spirit,  proverbially  fearless,  and  in  no  way  inclined 
to  Great  Britain.  General  Brock's  own  letters, 
and  the  memoir  compiled  from  them,  show  that 
the  disaffection,  if  any,  was  the  other  way,  and 
that  the  French  Canadians,  both  in  Upper  and  in 
21 


322  CANADIAN    BACKWARDNESS.  [Chap.  XI. 

Lower  Canada,  were  very  lukewarm  in  their  Brit- 
ish sentiments,  and  not  at  all  disposed  to  be  for- 
ward against  the  United  States.  Early  in  July, 
General  Brock  was  informed  by  the  Adjutant 
General  of  a  considerable  gathering  of  French 
Canadians  at  Lachine,  who  refused  to  join  the 
militia,  and  were  only  dispersed  by  a  force  from 
the  49th  Regiment,  with  artillery.  Brock,  in  his 
confidential  letters,  written  while  Hull  was  delay- 
ing his  movements,  expressed  great  discourage- 
ment at  the  prospect,  and  showed  that  neither  the 
western  Canadian  militia  nor  the  Canadian  Indi- 
ans would  join  the  British  Army  in  any  strength. 
Major  Chambers,  who  was  sent  to  the  Thames  to 
enlist  their  services,  utterly  failed.  The  Detroit 
Regiment  was  made  up  of  excellent  material,  and 
in  the  interval  between  the  discovery  that  war 
existed,  (made  by  the  arrest  in  Canada  of  Mr. 
Moran  and  a  companion,)  until  Hull's  arrival,  had 
been  on  the  alert  for  an  attack,  and    ready  for  it. 

The  charges  against  the  administration  as  en- 
tirely responsible  for  his  failure,  would  not  exonerate 
him,  even  if  true  as  made.  They  amount  sub- 
stantially to  these:  That  war  was  declared  with- 
out providing  for  commanding  the  lakes  by  a 
naval  force,  which  Hull  had  represented  to  be 
absolutely  necessary  ;  and  that  notice  was  delayed 
so  that  the  British  got  the  earliest  news ;  that 
Mackinaw  fell,  and  the  Indians  were  set  loose  on 
the  lower  country  by  reason  thereof;  that  the 
Province    of  Upper    Canada    was    more    populous 


Chap.  XL]  EXCUSES  AND    PRETEXTS.  323 

than  Michigan,  and  had  a  force  of  4,000  or  5,000 
militia,  besides  the  regulars;  that  Dearborn,  in 
August,  made  an  armistice,  whereby  Brock  and  his 
army  were  enabled  to  turn  their  whole  attention 
to  Detroit ;  that  the  Indians  were  all  in  the 
British  interest,  and  he  was  compelled  to  surren- 
der to  avoid  the  terrible  evils  to  be  expected 
from  all  these  forces,  especially  Indian  massacres  ; 
and  that  the  administration  found  it  necessary  to 
ruin  him  to  save  its  own  credit. 

It  would  seem  to  people  generally  to  be  a 
sufficient  answer  to  all  this,  to  say  that,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  blame  belonging  to  others, 
while  it  might  relieve  him  from  fault  for  not 
doing  what  it  prevented,  it  could  be  no  excuse 
for  failing  to  do  what  he  could.  Whether  it  might 
or  not  have  been  possible  for  Brock  to  have 
brought  an  overwhelming  force,  large  enough  to 
have  annihilated  Hull,  yet,  as  matter  of  fact,  there 
was  no  occasion  where  Hull's  force  was  not  su- 
perior, and  none  where  his  men  were  not  willing 
and  anxious  to  try  conclusions  with  the  enemy. 
No  superior  flesh  and  blood  hosts  prevented  his 
capture  of  Maiden,  or  his  resistance  to  Brock  at 
Detroit.  His  early  experiences  should  have  re- 
strained him  from  such  pretexts.  The  same  rea- 
soning which  made  it  his  duty  to  give  up  before 
the  spectre  of  those  imaginary  forces,  would  have 
made  it  utter  madness,  and  a  sin  against  human- 
ity, for  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution  to  enter 
that  contest.  On  such  a  theory  wars  should  be 
disposed  of  by  footing  up  the  census. 


324  NECESSITY  OF  THE  WAR.  [Chap.  XI. 

We  are  not  concerned,  in  this  generation,  with 
covering  up  any  faults  of  Madison's  administra- 
tion. It  had  its  share  of  failures  and  was  often 
open  to  criticism,  but  the  President,  who  is  claimed 
to  be  the  chief  offender,  has  not  been  thought  by 
the  people,  whose  sober  second-thought  is  usually 
just,  to  have  forfeited  the  right  to  be  respected 
for  his  patriotism  and  general  fairness.  The  war 
of  1 812  was  one  which  no  administration  could 
have  resisted  without  popular  contempt ;  and  those 
who  attempted  to  prevent  its  successful  conduct 
never  got  rid  of  the  stigma  which  attached  to 
lack  of  patriotism.  To  the  northwest  it  was  a  ne- 
cessity, and  it  has  been  called,  with  almost  literal 
truth,  the  Second  War  of  Independence. 

It  was  undoubtedly  one  of  General  Hull's  weak- 
nesses, (and  a  very  dangerous  one),  that  he  be- 
lieved it  impossible  that  his  views  and  sugges- 
tions as  to  the  proper  way  of  conducting  the  ex- 
pected war  should  not  be  accepted  and  adhered 
to.  His  own  witness,  General  Peter  B.  Porter,  a 
very  good  officer,  who  went  twice  with  Hull  to 
visit  the  President  on  the  subject  of  a  navy,  says 
that  "  at  first  it  was  agreed  to  have  one ;  but 
afterwards  it  was  agreed  to  abandon  it,  doubtless 
as  inexpedient;"  and  he  also  states  that  while 
General  Hull  proposed  3,000  men,  "  the  Secretary 
replied  that  there  would  not  be  so  many ;  perhaps 
2,000."  It  certainly  would  be  a  remarkable  thing 
for  an  administration  to  allow  itself  to  be  gov- 
erned   by    the    discretion    of   a    brigadier    general 


Chap.  XI. J  SOPHISTICAL   PRETEXTS. 


325 


concerning  the  conduct  of  a  war,  and  there  is  no 
proof  that  it  did  so.  The  notion  rests  on  the 
assumption  of  the  General  that  he  had  a  right 
to  expect  it,  and  that  his  subsequent  renewal  of 
his  programme  should  have  bound  the  Secretary 
to  follow  it. 

The  same  lack  of  judgment  appears  in  his 
assurance  to  himself,  that  the  war  could  not  be 
declared  before  the  ist  of  July;  —  as  if  even  the 
pledge  of  the  President  could  have  retarded  the 
action  of  Congress.  All  this,  however,  is  of  small 
account,  for  he  never,  after  his  arrival  at  Detroit, 
expected  a  navy.  The  occurrences  on  the  Niagara 
frontier  were,  however,  important  for  his  protection. 
But  it  is  not  clear  why  he  was  not  also  bound  to 
keep  up  his  own  end  of  the  line,  for  the  help  of 
the  army  at  Niagara ;  and  if  he  had  done  his 
duty,  the  results  there  might  have  been  more  satis- 
factory. Dearborn's  armistice  would  very  possibly 
have  provided  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  at 
Detroit  as  well  as  at  Niagara,  if  it  had  been 
supposed  Detroit  required  it.  To  all  appearance, 
a  check  on  the  movements  of  the  Detroit  army, 
if  commanded  as  it  should  have  been,  would  not 
have  been  in  the  interest  of  the  United  States. 
But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  act  of  Dearborn  was 
disapproved,  and  neither  Hull  nor  Brock  heard  of 
the    armistice    till    after   the    surrender.1       Brock's 


i  "  While  on  his  voyage  across  Lake  Erie,  in  the  schooner  Chippewa, 
he  was  met,  on  the  23rd  of  August,  by  the  provincial  schooner,  Lady 
Prevost,  of  14  guns,  the  commander  of  which,   after   saluting   the  General 


326 


BROCK'S   INFERIOR   FORCF.S.  [Chap.  XI. 


movement  westward  was  caused  by  anxiety,  and 
not  by  any  relief  on  the  New  York  side.  He 
brought  no  such  additional  force  as  would  have 
interfered  with  Hull's  safety,  and  he  is  known  to 
have  brought  all  the  men  he  could  spare.  His 
memoirs  show  that  the  condition  of  the  Niagara 
frontier  made  him  very  uneasy,  and  that  he  dared 
not  lesson  its  defences. 

*The  militia  force  of  Upper  Canada  was  dis- 
covered at  once  to  furnish  no  basis  for  any  such 
fears  as  are  made  to  appear  so  natural  in  the 
retrospect.  The  possible  thousands  were  not  men 
under  arms,  but  men  liable  to  be  called  out. 
The  numbers  actually  armed  and  enrolled  were 
not  great,  and,  while  probably  about  as  good 
material  as  the  militia  forces  of  the  United  States, 
could  not  be  any  better.  Brock's  first  orders  at 
Maiden,  on  the  14th  of  August,  complained  bitterly 
of  the  number  of  desertions.  Hull's  force  of 
regulars  was  larger  than  Brock's,  and  his  volunteers 
at  least  two  or  three  times  greater  than  the  force 
of  Canadian  militia  near  Detroit,  and  some  of  these 
were  not  novices.  McArthur's  raid  into  the 
Thames  country  had  completely  demolished  any 
theory  that  the  country  away  from  the  garrisons 
was  dangerous.  The  abortive  expedition  of 
Chambers  was  quite  as  significant. 

with  seventeen  guns,  came  on  board  and  gave  him  the  first  intelligence  of 
the  armistice  which  Sir  George  Prevost  had  unfortunately  concluded  with 
the  American  General,  Dearborn.  Major  General  Brock  could  not  con- 
ceal his  deep  regret  and  mortification  at  the  intelligence  which  he  found 
would  prevent  his  contemplated  attack  on  Sacketts  Harbor." — Brock's  Life, 
P-  274.     . 


Chap.  XL]  HULL'S   UNFITNESS   TO   COMMAND.  327 

The  fact  that  the  news  of  war  arrived  at  Maiden 
several  days  before  Hull's  army  reached  the 
Detroit  River,  gave  the  commander  of  that  place 
an  opportunity  of  taking  Detroit  by  surprise.  As 
in  spite  of  his  larger  garrison  and  Indian  allies, 
and  his  auxiliary  naval  force,  he  did  not  venture 
on  such  a  measure,  the  inference  is  plain  that  he 
had  not  much  confidence  in  his  own  position ; 
and  so  it  appeared  to  all  but  Hull  himself. 

The  effect  produced  on  the  mind,  in  reading 
the  vindication  which  the  memoirs  set  forth,  is 
such  as  to  relieve  Hull  from  any  suspicion  of 
disloyalty,  and  to  excite  a  certain  degree  of  sym- 
pathy for  him,  as  one  of  those  failures  which 
result  from  being  placed  in  a  false  position,  for 
which  he  was  utterly  unsuited,  and  where  his 
associates  knew  his  unfitness  and  could  not  tolerate 
it.  In  a  quiet  community,  where  no  perilous  sur- 
roundings disturb  the  general  security,  such  a 
reputable  old  citizen,  of  genial  disposition  and  on 
good  terms  with  himself,  would  naturally  receive 
very  flattering  treatment,  and  have  his  faith  in 
himself  considerably  magnified.  Such  exaggerations 
and  suspicions  as  are  found  in  his  whole  conduct 
are  so  general  among  the  class  of  characters  to 
which  he  evidently  belonged,  as  usually  to  deceive 
a  great  deal  of  toleration.  Few  persons  are  so 
popular  at  horne  as  the  kind-hearted  social  mag- 
nates, who  sincerely  desire  to  make  all  around  them 
happy,  and  who,  from  the  universal  liking  and 
deference  which  they  receive,  become  in  time  im- 


328  ACCOUNTABILITY  OF  COMMANDERS.  [Chap.  XI. 

pressed  with  the  idea,  more  or  less  clearly  defined 
to  their  consciousness,  that  their  judgment  is  in- 
fallible. No  persons  are  slower  to  discover  their 
own  deficiencies,  or  to  attribute  their  failures  to 
the  true  cause,  and  few  are  less  able  to  bear 
opposition  or  slights. 

The  stern  realities  of  border  war  will  not 
justify  deference  to  any  foibles  which  endanger 
the  country  ;  and  the  necessities  of  justice  demand 
that  every  one  shall  be  held  to  a  strict  responsi- 
bility, when  he  assumes  a  place  where  the  safety 
of  the  community  depends  on  his  firmness  and 
wisdom.  The  weakness  which  imperils  such  large 
interests,  although  it  may  belong  to  a  well  mean- 
ing and  very  amiable  man,  is,  nevertheless,  a 
moral  wrong  as  well  as  a  legal  crime.  It  may 
not  injure  the  transgressor  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  have  known  his  merits,  and  have  not  suffered 
from  his  faults.  But  it  would  be  very  dangerous 
to  society  if  the  true  character  of  such  derelictions 
of  duty  should  be  so  far  glossed  over,  as  to  enroll 
convicted  offenders  among  the  noble  army  of 
martyrs,  or  to  give  them  approval  when  it  is 
magnanimous  to  pardon  them. 

The  British  Army  assumed  control  of  the, 
fort  and  Territory,  and  the  people  came  under 
the  dominion  of  martial  law.  Under  such  a  com- 
mander as  General  Brock,  it  would  have  been  as 
tolerable  as  such  a  rule  can  usually  be  made. 
Under  Proctor  it  was  not  so  tolerable. 


CHAPTER     XII. 

BRITISH     POSSESSION     AND     AMERICAN    RE-CONQUEST   OF 

MICHIGAN. 

Immediately  after  the  surrender,  the  paroled 
troops  returned  home,  and  the  prisoners  were 
taken  down  the  lake.  At  the  request  of  his  as- 
sociates, Colonels  McArthur  and  Findlay,  and 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Miller,  Colonel  Cass  made  a 
report  to  the  government  of  the  whole  history  of 
Hull's  career  as  commander.  This  was  assailed 
by  a  portion  of  the  press  with  great  malignity, 
and  it  was  even  charged  to  have  emanated  from 
Mr.  Rush,  as  an  administration  defence.  As  his- 
tory has  thoroughly  disposed  of  these  calumnies, 
and  the  document  has  been  abundantly  verified 
and  approved,  it  may  be  passed  without  remark. 
The  sentiments  of  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  con- 
cerning their  sons  engaged  in  the  transactions 
about  Detroit,  were  evinced  by  their  votes  of 
thanks  to  the  volunteer  and  regular  forces  and 
their  officers.  Miller,  and  others  of  his  regiment, 
were  brevetted  for  their  good  conduct  at  Mongu- 
agon,  and  on  other  occasions  named,  where  they 
had  distinguished  themselves.  Cass  and  McAr- 
thur continued  after  their  exchange  in  active  ser- 


330 


MILITARY   GOVERNMENT.  [Chap.  XII. 


vice,  and  were  advanced  in  rank  by  the  popular 
and  State  action,  as  well  as  by  the  United  States. 
Both  earned  a  solid  reputation  as  soldiers  and  as 
civil  officers,  and  few  men  have  done  more  for 
the  advancement  of  the  northwest. 

General  Brock,  before  he  departed,  issued  a 
proclamation,  dated  on  the  day  of  the  surrender, 
in  which  he  declared  that  the  Territory  of  Michi- 
gan had  been  ceded  to  the  arms  of  His  Britan- 
nic Majesty,  ■■' zvithout  any  other  condition  than  the 
protection  of  private  property T  He  therefore  de- 
clares that,  "  wishing  to  give  an  early  proof  of 
the  moderation  and  justice  of  the  government," 
he  announces  that  the  laws  in  force  shall  con- 
tinue until  the  King's  pleasure  shall  be  known, 
so  long  as  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Territory 
will  admit ;  and  that  all  the  inhabitants  shall  be 
fully  protected  in  their  religion.  He  required  all 
public  property,  and  all  arms,  public  or  private,  to 
be  delivered  up.1 

The  reference  to  the  alleged  sole  condition  is 
remarkable.  The  copy  of  the  capitulation,  ap- 
pended to  Hull's  trial,  contains  the  following  ar- 
ticle :  ''Article  3d.  Private  property,  and  private 
persons  of  every  description,  will  be  respected." 
From  the  charges  and  specifications  against  him, 
this  must  have  been  assumed  as  correct.  There 
are  several  verbal  differences  between  this  copy 
and  the  one  published  in  Miles'  Register,  which 
appears  to  be  more  correct  in  names  and  various 

1  3  Niles,  25. 


C»ap.  XII.]  PROCTOR. 


331 


other  minutiae,  as  well  as  in  grammar,  but  which 
does  not  contain  this  article  at  all.  It  appeared 
on  the  trial  that  Brock  erased  some  words  from 
the  articles  as  drafted,  but  it  did  not  clearly  ap- 
pear what  they  were.  Brock's  proclamation  recog- 
nizes private  property  (except  arms,  which  were 
not  excepted  in  the  article  as  contained  in  the 
appendix,)  but  does  not  recognize  any  stipulation 
as  to  persons.  This  afterwards  became  material, 
and  persons  were  not  respected.  It  is  not  im- 
possible that  the  copies  interchanged  may  have 
differed.  If  so,  it  is  not  possible  to  tell  which 
was  correct,  as  both  must  have  been  signed. 
Brock  would  hardly  have  resorted  to  a  misrepre- 
sentation of  fact.  The  omission,  if  made,  was  one 
which  was  of  great  importance,  and  the  fate  of 
several  subsequent  complaints  shows  that  Proctor 
acted  as  if  no  such  stipulation  existed,  although 
it  was  asserted  and  relied  on. 

Proctor  was  left  in  command.  While  Brock, 
and  most  of  the  officers  under  him,  appear  to  have 
conducted  themselves  without  creating  any  strong 
personal  dislike  against  them,  Proctor  has  left  in 
Detroit  a  reputation*  for  brutality  and  tyranny 
that  has  seldom  been  equalled.  Wherever  our 
people  came  in  contact  with  him,  at  Detroit, 
Frenchtown,  Maiden  or  Ohio,  their  report  was 
uniform.  As  a  natural  accompaniment  to  cruelty 
of  disposition,  he,  although  by  no  means  wanting 
in  activity,  was  regarded  as  lacking  in  the  higher 
attributes  of  a  brave  commander.     He    was  prob- 


332  SCHEME  OF  ADMINISTRATION.  [CHAr.  XII. 

ably  not  an  absolute  coward,  for  he  was  often 
exposed  to  personal  danger,  but  he  had  no  cool 
and  dogged  bravery,  and  more  than  once  drew 
himself  away  from  opposing  forces,  where  it  would 
have  been  much  more  honorable  to  prolong  re- 
sistance. His  reputation  is  not  much  reverenced 
in   Canada. 

On  the  2 1  st  of  August,  he  issued  a  proclama- 
tion to  organize  the  civil  government.  He  or- 
dained that  the  courts  and  civil  officers  should 
continue  in  their  functions,  and  that  in  the  Legis- 
lative Board  a  majority  should  not  be  required  if 
offices  were  vacant,  and  that  laws  need  not  be 
adopted  from  the  American  States.  The  United 
States  duties  and  taxes  were  to  be  paid  to  the 
military  treasurer,  for  general  expenses,  and  local 
revenues  to  be  expended  as  before,  for  local  pur- 
poses. The  land  officers  and  Indian  department 
were  superseded.  He  assumed  the  office  of  civil 
governor,  and  Judge  Woodward  was  made 
Secretary. 

This  scheme  was  a  just  and  proper  one,  but 
it  was  very  imperfectly  carried  out.  The  public 
records  were  in  part  removed,  and  some  of  them 
disappeared.  The  worst  act  of  spoliation  related 
to  land  titles.  The  land  claims  confirmed  by  the 
commissioners,  under  the  various  statutes,  for  the 
benefit  of  occupants,  or  heirs  or  grantees  of 
occupants,  holding  in  1796,  were  not  finally  ratified 
by  Congress  until  April  23,  181 2,  when  it  was 
enacted  that  patents  should  issue  for  all  confirma- 


Chap.  XII.  I  SPOLIATIONS. 


33 


tions.  These  patents  reached  the  Detroit  Land 
Office  just  before  or  during  the  war,  and  were 
lying  there  awaiting  delivery  at  the  time  of  the 
surrender.  They  were  all  seized  or  destroyed, 
although  the  other  office  records  and  files  were 
not  seriously  injured. 

From  a  letter  written  by  Brock  to  Proctor,  it 
would  seem  that  seizures  of  private  property  had 
been  made  for  purposes  of  extortion.  M  I  under- 
stand that  salvage  has  been  demanded  from  in- 
dividuals on  several  accounts ;  for  property  re- 
covered or  restored,  for  patents,  etc.  I  lament 
that  such  a  course  has  been  adopted,  for  it  was 
my  intention,  and  it  is  now  my  wish,  that  our  con- 
duct in  these  matters  should  be  governed  by  the 
broadest  principles  of  liberality.  You  will,  there- 
fore, be  pleased  to  have  returned  to  the  several 
individuals  the  amount  which  each  may  have  paid 
as  salvage  on  any  account."     :i:     *     (Life,  p.  295.) 

The  Indians  began  at  once  to  pillage 
property  and  to  do  mischief,  and  some  of  the 
captured  officers  and  men  were  insulted  at  Mai- 
den. On  the  day  of  the  surrender,  Secretary  At- 
water's  house  was  robbed  of  a  large  amount  of 
personal  property,  and  many  outrages  were  com- 
mitted in  the  country  round.  Colonel  McKee, 
the  British  Indian  agent,  interfered  in  some  cases 
to  prevent  such  outrages,  and  no  doubt  did  what 
he  could.  But  no  effective  measures  were  had, 
and  the  savages  made  great  havoc.  Their  old 
friendship  for  the  French  settlers  in  some  instances 


334 


PROCTOR'S  ABUSES.  [Chap.  XII 


protected  them  from  outrage,  but  before  long  in- 
sidious attempts  were  made  to  bring  them  over 
to  British  allegiance,  and  the  suggestion  of  Indian 
hostility  was  used  to  persuade  them.  Proctor,  in 
plain  violation  of  the  capitulation,  resorted  to  such 
efforts  so  often  and  so  shamelessly  as  to  excite 
the  plain-spoken  indignation  of  Judge  Woodward, 
who  left  the  Territory  a  few  months  after,  to  lay 
his  misconduct,  in  this  and  in  other  matters,  be- 
fore the  government  and  the  public.  General 
Harrison,  after  the  Battle  of  the  Thames,  received 
a  letter  from  Proctor  asking  protection  to  private 
property  of  inhabitants  in  Canada,  sent  under  cir- 
cumstances so  peculiar  as  to  induce  him  to  regard 
the  bearer  as  a  spy.  Nevertheless,  he  offered  him 
no  indignity,  but  refused  to  notice  Proctor,  and 
addressed  his  reply  to  General  Vincent,  his  supe- 
rior, to  whom  he  gave  an  indignant  account  of 
that  officers  infamous  outrages,  which  Vincent, 
whom  he  respected,  made  no  attempt  to  excuse 
or  palliate. 

Early  in  the  fall  of  1812,  Walk-in-the-Water 
and  Roundhead,  two  principal  chiefs  of  the  Wyan- 
dots,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  French  people  on  the 
Raisin,  addressed  to  Colonel  Navarre,  calling  upon 
them  to  rise  and  help  their  Indian  friends,  and 
threatening,  if  they  failed,  to  renounce  their  friend- 
ship and  subject  them  to  the  treatment  of  ene- 
mies.1 The  letter  was  short  and  pithy,  but  evi- 
dently not  of  Indian  originating,  though  signed  by 

1   State  Papers,  i  Ind.  Aff.,  371. 


Chap.  XII. J  UPRISING   IN   THE   WEST.  335 

those  chiefs,  who  would  have  been  much  more  likely 
to  visit  the  Raisin  themselves,  if  they  desired  to 
confer  with  their  old  acquaintances.  The  letter 
was  at  once  sent  up  to  Judge  Woodward,  and 
was  one  of  the  illustrations  which  he  afterwards 
gave  of  the  dishonorable  methods  which  Proctor 
resorted  to,  in  order  to  intimidate  the  settlers. 
The  threat  was  not  an  idle  one,  and  the  conse- 
quences of  it  were  the  occasion  for  Winchester's 
expedition  of  a  few  weeks  later. 

The  immediate  result  of  Hull's  surrender  was 
a  general  uprising  all  over  the  west.  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  were  especially  active,  and  General  Har- 
rison was  by  common  consent  put  at  the  head  of 
all  the  forces,  receiving  a  special  commission  from 
Kentucky.  These  troops  were  volunteers,  not 
called  out  originally  by  the  United  States,  but 
brought  into  the  field  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
occasion.  Harrison  was  also  commissioned  for 
the  same  purpose  by  the  United  States.  The 
Indians  were  very  soon  scattered  from  the  Wa- 
bash, and  driven  northward.  A  campaign  was 
planned  for  the  recovery  of  Michigan  and  the 
capture  of  Maiden,  which  was  delayed  by  some 
untoward  events,  and  for  a  time  prevented  by 
General  Winchester,  who,  without  orders,  under- 
took to  advance  to  the  Raisin,  and  there  met  with 
a  terrible  catastrophe. 

The  American  prisoners  from  Detroit  were 
sent  over  from  Quebec  for  exchange,  in  October. 
At    that    time,  it    is  stated,  that    five    of   the  eight 


336  TROPHIES.     BROCK'S   DEATH.  [Chap.  XII. 

brass  cannon  captured  at  the  surrender  were  lying 
at  the  chateau.  Among  the  brass  pieces  in  the 
fort  were  two  captured  by  Stark  at  Bennington, 
and  one  taken  from  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga,  as 
well  as  some  surrendered  at  Yorktown.  The 
British  officers  are  said  to  have  been  greatly 
pleased  at  regaining  possession  of  Burgoyne's 
trophy,  which  was  a  little  three-pounder,  used  for 
salutes.  It  was  afterwards  recaptured  by  Harri- 
son at  the  Battle  of  the  Thames,  with  two  others 
from  Yorktown,  and  is  now  at  Frankfort,  Kentucky, 
bearing  inscriptions  indicating  its  history  and  ad- 
ventures. 

General  Brock  was  created  a  Knight  of  the 
Bath,  for  his  capture  of  Detroit.  His  career  was 
not  prolonged.  He  was  killed  on  the  1 2th  of  Oc- 
tober, at  the  Battle  of  Queenstown,  and  the 
American  Army,  as  well  as  the  British,  paid  him 
military  honors  at  his  funeral. 

On  the  8th  day  of  October,  1812,  the  Detroit, 
(formerly  the  American  brig  Adams,)  an  armed 
vessel  of  18  guns,  and  the  Caledonia,  a  smaller 
armed  vessel,  arrived  at  Fort  Erie,  opposite  Buf- 
falo, with  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  with  large 
supplies  of  stores  and  munitions.  The  Caledonia 
had  a  cargo  of  furs,  estimated  at  from  $150,000 
to  $200,000.  A  portion  of  General  Hull's  family 
had  come  part  of  the  way  down  the  lake  in  the 
Detroit,  and  his  and  their  baggage  was  on  board. 
Lieutenant  (afterwards  Commodore)  Jesse  D. 
Elliott,  with  a  force  of  volunteers  from    the   army 


Chap.  XII.]     VESSELS  CAPTURED.    KENTUCKY  VOLUNTEERS.        337 

and  the  citizens  of  Buffalo,  boarded  and  captured 
them  that  night.  The  Caledonia  was  run  across 
to  Black  Rock  and  beached.  The  Detroit  grounded 
on  Squaw  Island,  and  after  a  series  of  sharp 
encounters,  she  was  finally  burned. 

In  the  winter  of  18 12-13,  tne  c°ld  weather 
set  in  with  severity,  and  it  was  at  one  time  con- 
templated to  take  advantage  of  it,  by  crossing  on 
the  ice,  to  attack  Maiden.  But  the  mistakes  and 
lack  of  judgment  of  some  of  Harrison's  sub- 
ordinates prevented  any  early  action,  and  it 
was  finally  checked  by  the  course  of  General 
Winchester. 

The  latter  had  under  his  command  a  fine 
body,  chiefly  of  Kentucky  troops,  made  up  of  the 
foremost  young  men  in  the  State,  of  great  intel- 
ligence and  undaunted  bravery.  They  had  gone 
into  the  service  with  the  generous  desire  to  wipe 
out  the  disgrace  of  Hull's  surrender,  and  put  an 
end  to  the  frightful  barbarities  of  the  Indians,  who 
had  been  encouraged  by  it  to  renew  their  old 
atrocities.  It  would  be  almost  invidious  to  mention 
single  names,  where  the  whole  muster-roll  was  a 
list  of  heroes.  When  the  new  Capitol  of  the  State 
shall  furnish  a  proper  place  for  preserving  and 
perpetuating  in  public  reverence  the  names  of 
our  benefactors,  we  shall  fail  in  our  duty  if  the 
soldiers  of  Frenchtown,  and  the  gallant  men  who 
avenged  them,  are  not  made  familiar  as  household 
words  to  the  whole  people  of  Michigan. 

22 


338  FIRST   BATTLE  OF  THE   RAISIN.  [Chap.  XII. 

News  arrived  at  the  Maumee  that  the  inhabi- 
tants along  the  River  Raisin  were  suffering  se- 
verely from  the  depredations  of  the  Indians,  and 
that  preparations  were  making  to  destroy  the  set- 
tlement in  a  few  days.  The  impulses  of  human- 
ity stirred  up  the  whole  army  in  their  behalf,  and 
on  the  17th  of  January,  181 3,  General  Winchester 
ordered  Colonel  William  Lewis  to  proceed  to  the 
Raisin  and  protect  the  inhabitants.  He  reached 
the  river,  at  the  present  city  of  Monroe,  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  18th,  with  a  force 
of  between  600  and  700.  They  found  a  body  of 
the  enemy,  composed  of  British  and  Indians, 
posted  in  the  village  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
stream,  who  opened  fire  on  the  Americans  with  a 
howitzer,  as  they  approached  the  river ;  but  no 
one  was  hurt  by  it.  The  line  of  battle  was  at 
once  formed,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Allen  command- 
ing the  right  wing,  Major  Graves  the  left,  and 
Major  Madison  the  centre.  The  whole  army 
crossed  at  once  on  the  ice,  and  Graves  and  Madi- 
son, in  spite  of  the  obstructions  of  the  heavy 
pickets  and  fences,  soon  drove  the  enemy  from 
the  village.  A  considerable  force,  with  the  how- 
itzer, encountered  Colonel  Allen  on  the  right, 
where  the  battle  was  very  hot ;  but  by  degrees 
the  British  and  Indians  were  driven  back,  fighting 
obstinately,  until  at  nightfall  they  had  been  fol- 
lowed about  two  miles  into  the  heavy  timber, 
where  the  darkness  put  an  end  to  the  conflict, 
and  Lewis  occupied    the  village.     The  number   of 


Chap.  XII.]  GENERAL  WINCHESTER.  .  339 

casualties  on  the  American  side  was  1 2  killed  and 
55  wounded.  The  loss  of  the  enemy  was  not 
published,  and,  so  far  as  the  Indians  were  con- 
cerned, was  not  known,  as  they  dragged  away 
their  dead.     The  battle  was  an  obstinate  one. 

News  of  this  battle  was  sent  to  Winchester, 
who  at  once  started  in  person,  with  about  250 
men,  and  reached  the  Raisin  on  the  20th,  where 
his  force,  combined  with  Lewis's,  made  over  900 
men  fit  for  duty.  They  were  all  in  good  spirits, 
and  ready  to  meet  any  emergency.  It  was  largely 
owing  to  the  fault  of  General  Winchester  that 
they  suffered  any  defeat.  His  personal  gallantry 
and  patriotism  led  every  one  to  look  upon  his 
mistakes  with  leniency,  and  few  officers  have  been 
more  generously  dealt  with. 

General  Winchester,  like  Hull,  was  an  old  Rev- 
olutionary officer.  He  never  held  rank  beyond 
that  of  a  subaltern,  but  his  personal  conduct  had 
been  brave  and  devoted,  and  his  large  means 
were  unselfishly  used  for  patriotic  purposes.  After 
the  Revolution,  he  settled  in  Tennessee,  where 
he  remained  in  voluntary  retirement,  declining 
public  office.  When  the  troops  were  enlisted 
in  that  part  of  the  country,  he  was  appointed 
brigadier  general,  and  at  one  time,  by  some 
strange  mistake,  he  was  supposed  to  have  super- 
seded Harrison.  He  had  no  faculty  for  man- 
aging an  army,  and  the  troops,  when  he  was 
in  command  in  Ohio,  became  mutinous,  and 
were    only    pacified    by    the    vigorous    efforts    of 


340  .  LACK  OF  VIGILANCE.  [Chap.  XII. 

Scott  and  Harrison,  in  whom  they  placed,  as  well 
they  might,  implicit  confidence.  Winchester's  only 
strength  was  in  his  sincere  courage  and  devotion ; 
and  for  these  he  was  well  esteemed.  He  was 
not  severely  censured  for  his  errors,  because  they 
were  those  of  a  brave  and  good,  though  not  wise, 
soldier. 

The  settlement  near  the  mouth  of  the  Raisin, 
where  Winchester  had  his  camp,  was  close  by  the 
Indian  country,  and  only  eighteen  miles  from  Mai- 
den, which  at  this  time  was  accessible  by  land, 
and  by  a  crossing  on  heavy  ice,  which  was  much 
more  convenient  than  any  land  road.  The  Wy- 
andot villages  at  Brownstown  and  Monguagon 
were  the  headquarters  of  Walk-in-the-Water  and 
Roundhead,  as  well  as  of  other  noted  chiefs,  and 
nearly  all  the  Indian  bands  which  had  been  driven 
northward  were  at  Maiden  or  in  southern  Michi- 
gan. The  white  force  that  had  been  met  by 
Colonel  Lewis  was  from  Maiden,  and  the  Indians 
were  probably  those  of  the  neighborhood.  Sav- 
ages prowled  near  the  camp  during  the  entire 
interval  between  the  arrival  of  Lewis  and  the  last 
battle. 

Under  these  circumstances,  prudence  required 
the  utmost  vigilance.  Here  Winchester  failed. 
He  had  no  personal  experience  of  Indian  war- 
fare, and  had  no  idea  of  the  small  effect  of  a  de- 
feat in  preventing  them  from  making  preparations 
for  further  mischief.  He  took  no  efficient  means 
for  fortifying  his  encampment;    and  while  the  ori- 


Chap.  XII.J  BRITISH   ATTACK. 


341 


ginal  command  of  Lewis  were  in  quarters  which 
they  could  have  defended,  and  did  defend,  the  re- 
inforcements brought  up  by  Winchester  himself 
were  in  an  open  camp.  The  General  did  not 
remain  in  the  vicinity  of  his  men,  but  was  quar- 
tered in  the  house  of  Colonel  Navarre,  a  promi- 
nent French  citizen,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
and  more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  army. 

On  the  2 1  st,  Winchester  was  informed  that 
the  British  and  Indians  would  be  down  upon  him 
that  night,  or  in  the  morning ;  but  he  was  induced 
to  believe  the  alarm  groundless,  and,  in  spite  of 
warnings,  disregarded  it.  Colonel  Wells,  who 
commanded  the  regulars,  endeavored  in  vain  to 
spur  him  up  to  diligence.  He  neglected  to  call 
a  council,  or  to  use  any  means  against  surprise. 
No  scouts  were  kept  out,  and  he  omitted,  in  spite 
of  urgent  representations,  to  distribute  ammuni- 
tion, so  that  many  of  the  troops  had  a  short  sup- 
ply. Colonel  Wells  became  so  uneasy  that  he  left 
his  own  men  in  command  of  his  subordinate,  Ma- 
jor McClanahan,  and  hurried  to  the  Maumee  to 
obtain  reinforcements,  but  although  led  on  at  once, 
they  came  too  late  to  save  the  day,  and  turned 
back  when  they  learned  of  the  surrender. 

Before  day-break  on  the  2 2d  the  British  at- 
tacked the  camp  with  a  heavy  fire  of  shells  and 
canister,  and  made  a  desperate  assault  with  regu- 
lars and  Indians.  Lewis's  force  being  protected 
by  heavy  picket  fences,  which  were  a  very  good 
defence  against   muskets  and    light    missiles,  were 


342 


SECOND   BATTLE  OF  THE  RAISIN.  [Chap.  XII. 


enabled  to  hold  their  own.  The  regulars  outside 
were  uncovered,  and  exposed  to  the  full  fury  of 
the  assault.  Winchester  and  Lewis,  with  ioo  men 
out  of  his  force  within  the  enclosures,  joined  them, 
and  for  a  considerable  time  held  the  enemy  at 
bay;  but  the  large  body  of  Indians  succeeded  in 
turning  their  right  flank,  and  they  were  compelled 
to  cross  the  river,  where,  though  fighting  desper- 
ately in  smaller  bodies,  they  could  make  no  united 
defence.  The  greatest  portion  of  them  were 
killed  and  scalped.  No  quarter  was  given  to  the 
Americans  in  this  part  of  the  field.  Winchester 
and  Lewis,  with  a  few  others,  were  finally  induced 
to  surrender  to  Roundhead,  who  stripped  them 
and  took  them  to  Proctor,  who  commanded  in 
person.  Colonel  Allen  was  killed.  He  was  a  man 
of  ability  and  his  loss  was  deeply  felt. 

The  left  and  centre,  under  Graves  and  Madi- 
son, maintained  their  position,  and  the  small  ar- 
tillery made  little  impression  on  them.  Their  rifle- 
men picked  off  the  British  gunners  whenever 
they  showed  themselves,  and  Proctor  and  his  white 
forces  had  withdrawn  beyond  range,  so  that  the 
besieged  soldiers  had  time  to  eat  their  breakfast. 
At  this  time  Winchester  was  taken  to  headquar- 
ters, and  impressed  by  the  barbarities  he  had 
witnessed  and  suffered,  and  by  the  suggestions  of 
Proctor  that  the  allies  could  not  be  restrained, 
and  miscalculating  the  condition  of  the  troops 
under  Graves  and  Madison,  he  consented  to  a 
surrender  on  condition — as  he    reported — that  the 


Chap.  XII.]  WINCHESTER  SURRENDERS. 


343 


prisoners  should  be  protected,  private  property 
secured,  and  the  side-arms  of  the  officers  restored 
to  them  at  Maiden.  Unfortunately,  this  was  not 
reduced  to  writing — probably  because  not  conve- 
nient, and  no  one  in  that  army  was  then  acquainted 
with  Proctor.  A  white  flag  was  sent  to  the  camp, 
accompanied  by  Proctor  in  person,  and  by  Major 
Overton,  one  of  Winchester's  staff.  Graves  and 
Madison  hesitated  about  submitting,  knowing  the 
habits  of  the  Indians,  and  refused  to  do  it  with- 
out full  assurance  of  safety.  Proctor  pledged 
himself  to  respect  the  conditions,  and  to  send  sleds 
for  the  wounded  to  take  them  to  Maiden  next 
morning,  and  to  have  them  all  safely  guarded  in 
the  meantime.  On  these  assurances  they  surren- 
dered. Some  of  the  Indians  immediately  began 
to  be  insolent,  and  Proctor,  on  being  appealed  to 
by  Major  Madison,  intimated  it  was  beyond  his 
power  to  restrain  them.  Madison  at  once  ordered 
his  men  to  protect  themselves  with  their  guns,  and 
thereupon  the  savages  were  called  off  and  did 
them  no  more  mischief.  The  unwounded  troops 
were  at  once  marched  off  towards  Maiden. 

Proctor  afterwards  reported  that  the  surrender 
was  unconditional.  Upon  this  he  is  flatly  contra- 
dicted by  Winchester,  and  the  promise  to  Madison 
to  the  same  effect  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Those  offi- 
cers were  men  of  unsullied  honor,  and  no  one 
can  doubt  their  correctness.  The  assurances  of 
Proctor  were  heard  and  verified  by  many  others, 
and  testified  to  by  Colonel  Lewis  and  twenty-one 


344 


CONDITIONS    BROKEN.  [Chaf.  XII. 


other  officers,1  immediately  after  their  return  in 
March,  as  well  as  by  some  who  were  longer  de- 
tained, and  by  civilians  at  Frenchtown.  The  reso- 
lutions passed  by  a  meeting  of  returned  officers, 
held  at  Erie  on  the  18th  of  February,  1813,2  not 
only  aver  distinctly  all  the  conditions,  but  other 
further  promises  made  by  Proctor  and  Elliott  for 
the  safety  of  the  wounded,  and  how  all  of  them 
were  disregarded.  Private  property  of  officers 
and  soldiers  was  allowed  to  be  plundered,  and  the 
officers'  side-arms  were  never  restored.  Some  of 
the  worst  atrocities  to  individuals  were  not  pub- 
licly known  until  shortly  after,  though  most  of  the 
bloody  deeds  which  have  made  the  River  Raisin 
terribly  famous  occurred  at  once. 

The  victory  was  dearly  bought.  Proctor  had 
182  killed  and  wounded  among  his  white  forces, 
or  more  than  one-third  of  their  whole  number. 
Of  the  American  troops,  not  more  than  30  or  40 
escaped,  537  prisoners  were  accounted  for  as  first 
estimated,  and  this  number  was  increased  by  40 
or  50  afterwards  ransomed  from  the  Indians.  The 
number  of  killed  and  missing  was  397,  a  large 
number  of  whom  were  not  slain  in  action  but 
murdered  afterwards,  and  a  few  subsequently  came 
in  and  were  ransomed.  The  loss  of  the  Indians 
is  not  known,  but  it  must  have  been  very  large. 
The  men  fought  desperately,  and  were  only  over- 
come by  numbers. 

1  4  Niles  R.,  S3.  2  4  Niles  R.,  13. 


Chap.  XII.]  MASSACRE  OF  PRISONERS.  345 

Proctor  started  at  once  for  Maiden.  When  it 
was  discovered  that  he  was  leaving  no  guard  be- 
hind to  protect  the  wounded,  of  whom  there  were 
very  many,  he  was  remonstrated  with,  and  some 
of  those  who  were  able  to  travel  desired  to  ac- 
company the  forces,  but  they  were  persuaded  that 
they  would  be  safe,  and  that  the  next  morning 
they  should  all  be  taken  safely  to  Maiden  on.  sleds. 
The  Indians  retired  to  Stony  Creek,  a  few  miles 
off,  and  it  was  represented  that  the  interpreters 
who  were  left  behind  had  full  control  over  the 
savages.  Personal  pledges  were  given  to  some 
of  the  officers,  and  one,  Captain  Hart,  (a  very 
highly  esteemed  officer,  and  brother-in-law  of  Henry 
Clay,)  who  had  met  an  old  acquaintance  and  friend 
in  Captain  Elliott,  who  had  been  entertained  in  his 
own  house,  received  from  him  positive  assurances 
of  safety  and  care. 

These  pledges  were  not  fulfilled,  but  it  is  not 
certain  that  Elliott  was  responsible.  The  kind- 
hearted  inhabitants  had  tenderly  cared  for  the 
wounded  in  their  own  homes.  The  next  morning 
about  200  drunken  savages,  who  had  been  indulged 
by  their  white  leaders  with  the  means  of  a  de- 
bauch at  Stony  Creek,  came  into  the  devoted  vil- 
lage, and  in  council  determined  to  kill  and  scalp 
all  the  wounded  who  could  not  travel.  After 
plundering  the  village,  they  broke  in  among  the 
wounded,  and  stripped  and  tomahawked  them. 
More  than  60  were  burned  up  in  the  houses 
where  they  were  confined,  those  who  tried    to  es- 


34  6  MASSACRE  OF   PRISONERS.  |Chap.  XII. 

cape  from  the  fire  being  driven  back  and  slain. 
The  streets  were  strewn  with  the  mangled  bodies. 
Those  who  could  walk  were  started  off  for  Mai- 
den, and  a  few  were,  for  large  sums,  allowed  to 
ride.  Most  of  these  were  killed  on  the  road,  and 
the  number  taken  to  Maiden  was  very  small. 
Captain  Hart,  Captain  Virgin  McCracken  of 
Colonel  Allen's  regiment,  Winchester's  secretary 
Captain  Woolfolk,  and  Ensign  Wells,  were  slaugh- 
tered on  the  road.  The  bodies  of  Woolfolk  and 
Hart  were  privately  rescued,  and  concealed  for 
burial,  by  some  French  citizens.  Many  prisoners 
were  carried  to  the  Indian  villages  on  the  Huron 
and  Rouge,  and  to  Detroit.  Many  were  murdered 
and  some  were  ransomed.  Major  Graves  was 
seen  on  the  Rouge  a  few  days  after  the  massacre, 
but  his  subsequent  fate  was  never  known.  He 
was  beyond  doubt  put  to  death.  No  imagination 
can  exaggerate  the  dreadful  scenes  of  those  hor- 
rid crimes.  The  brutal  tyrant  who  controlled  this 
region  would  not  even  interfere  to  allow  the  bu- 
rial of  the  dead  ;  and  the  bodies  of  the  murdered 
soldiers  were  left  to  be  devoured  by  unclean 
beasts.  The  French  inhabitants,  whose  testimony 
was  given  on  oath  concerning  these  transactions, 
described  the  efforts  which  were  made  to  save 
some  of  the  bodies  from  this  pollution,  and  the 
details  of  the  ravages  of  the  dogs  and  swine  are 
too  dreadful  for  description. 

Dr.  McKeehan,  who    was   sent    up  with    a    flag 
o(  truce  to  help  attend    the  wounded  at    Maiden, 


Chap.  XII.]  PROCTOR'S   MISCONDUCT.  347 

was  treated  shamefully  by  Proctor.  After  being 
charged  with  coming  for  improper  purposes,  and 
resenting  it,  as  he  had  reason,  he  was  for  a  time 
employed  as  aid  to  the  other  surgeons ;  but  on 
the  2d  of  March  he  was  arrested,  under  pretext 
of  carrying  on  a  private  correspondence,  and  in 
a  few  days  sent  down,  with  Israel  Ruland  of  De- 
troit, to  Montreal,  being  treated  ignominiously  on 
the  way,  and  on  his  arrival  there  shut  up  in  a 
filthy  subterranean  dungeon  for  more  than  a 
month.  No  charges  were  ever  made  or  alleged 
against  him,  and  no  explanation  was  ever  given  or 
guessed  at,  unless  that  he  had  not  taken  in  silence 
the  insulting  abuse  of  Proctor.  That  officer  was  now 
promoted  to  be  a  brigadier  general  for  his  vic- 
tory at  the  Raisin,  where,  according  to  the  gene- 
ral orders  announcing  his  promotion,  his  gallantry 
"  was  most  nobly  displayed,  in  his  humane  and 
unwearied  exertions,  which  succeeded  in  rescuing 
the  vanquished  from  the  revenge  of  the  Indian 
warriors."  Surely  this  was  penned  without  knowl- 
edge of  the  cruel  sarcasm  which  was  conveyed 
in  it.  Whatever  grounds  for  complaint  existed 
against  others,  no  one  was  found  anywhere  who 
competed  with  Proctor  in  barbarity.  In  this  he 
had  neither  peer  nor  rival. 

The  massacre  of  the  Raisin  seemed  to  arouse 
and  quicken  all  his  malignant  passions.  The 
Indians  who  had  carried  off  many  prisoners  to 
their  own  villages,  began  to  bring  them  in  for 
ransom.     Ensign  Baker,  of  the  2nd  U.  S.  Infantry 


348  FATE  OF   PRISONERS.  [Chap.  XII. 

was  captured  on  the  field  of  battle,  with  about  20 
others,  and  on  that  same  day  taken  a  few  miles 
from  the  Raisin,  where  they  were  left  through  the 
next  day,  while  most  of  the  Indians  returned  to 
the  village  for  the  massacre.  Their  captors  on 
returning,  brought  thirty  prisoners,  and  a  number 
of  fresh  scalps.  These  prisoners  informed  Baker 
of  what  had  occurred,  and  their  story  agreed  with 
what  has  been  obtained  from  many  other  sources ; 
for  the  testimony  is  uniform.  '  Four  prisoners  were 
wantonly  slain  just  after  they  were  brought  in. 
Mr.  Baker  was  employed  at  Maiden  by  General 
Winchester  in  prosecuting  inquiries  concerning 
the  outrages,  and  his  report,  though  not  complete, 
contains  some  details  and  testimony  of  impor- 
tance. On  the  25th  of  February,  the  testimony 
showed,  there  were  at  least  30  or  40  still  alive 
and  in  captivity  in  the  woods.  He  traced  Major 
Graves  as  on  the  River  Rouge,  on  the  25th  or 
26th  of  January,  but  heard  no  more  of  him. 
Robert  Abbott,  (afterwards  Auditor  General  of 
Michigan,)  stated  that  on  or  about  the  28th  of, 
January  an  Indian  woman  came  to  his  dwelling  on 
the  Rouge,  and  told  him  an  American  prisoner 
was  that  morning  killed  in  the  Indian  camp, 
because  he  had  expressed  hatred  for  the  Indians. 
But  whether  this  was  Major  Graves  or  not  no  one 
knows.  At  the  date  of  Baker's  statement,  the 
mutilated  fragments  of  the  dead  still  remained 
scattered  over  the  ground,  and  the  British  officers 
said    the    Indians    would    not    suffer    them    to    be 


Chap.  XII.]  PRISONERS   RANSOMED.  349 

buried.       But    there    can    be    no    question    of  the 
power  of  Proctor  to  have  secured  it  if  he    chose. 

Baker  was  taken  to  Detroit  on  the  29th  of 
January,  and  on  that  day  was  purchased  from  the 
Indians.  The  next  day  he  was  sent  down  to 
Maiden,  and  on  the  15th  of  February  was  for- 
warded to  Fort  Niagara  by  General  Proctor.  He 
gives  some  interesting  statements  concerning  the 
treatment  and  ransom  of  prisoners,  and  mentions 
the  names  of  several  persons  in  Detroit,  and  in 
Canada,  who  had  earned  their  gratitude.  Thirty- 
three  prisoners  besides  himself  were  ransomed  at 
Detroit,  seven  by  Colonel  Elliott  of  Maiden,  and 
one  by  Colonel  Francis  Baby,  (the  gentleman 
whose  house  was  Hull's  headquarters  when  in 
Canada).  He  speaks  with  grateful  warmth  of 
Major  Muir,  the  commander  at  Detroit ;  Colonels 
Baby  and  Elliott,  and  Captains  Aikins,  Curtish 
and.  Barrow,  among  the  British  officers,  as  also  of 
Reverend  Richard  Pollard,  the  Church  of  England 
clergyman  at  Sandwich,  whose  memory  is  still 
held  in  respect  at  Detroit,  and  commemorated  by 
a  memorial  window  in  St.  Paul's  Church.  The 
friends  whom  he  found  among  the  Americans  at 
Detroit  were  numerous.  Foremost  among  them 
all  he  dwells  upon  Judge  Woodward,  and  his 
well-deserved  eulogy  should  not  be  forgotten : 
"The  exertions  of  these  worthy  people  were  di- 
rected, and  point  given  to  them,  by  our  ever  to 
be  venerated  countryman,  Augustus  B.  Woodward, 
who    with    unwearied  zeal  exerted  himself   in  our 


350  WOODWARD.      BENEVOLENT  CITIZENS.  [Chai\  XII. 

behalf  at  Detroit:  he  was  the  life  and  soul  of 
the  remaining  Americans,  the  man  to  whom  they 
all  looked  up  for  success  in  the  hour  of  difficulty; 
for  advice  on  every  occasion.  This,  added  to 
the  influence  he  at  first  had  with  some  of  the 
British  officers,  enabled  him  to  do  wonders  for 
us.  This  gentleman,  whose  exalted  understanding 
entitles  him  to  the  first  consideration  for  talents, 
appears  to  have  no  wish  separate  from  the  inter- 
ests of  his  country ;  though  eminently  qualified 
to  enjoy  society,  he  gives  up  all  its  sweets  to 
shield  the  unfortunate  of  his  country  from  savage 
cruelty  and  British  oppression."  A  man  who 
made  such  a  record,  at  such  a  time,  is  one  of  the 
nobles  of  the  earth.  If  the  history  of  his  time 
requires  his  foibles  and  his  oddities  to  be  recorded, 
let  it  also  be  recorded  that  before  such  qualities 
as  he  showed  during  those  scenes  of  trial,  his 
weaknesses,  though  magnified  an  hundredfold,  were 
of  very  small    account. 

Among  the  names  of  those  most  prominent 
in  these  benevolent  efforts,  he  mentions  Colonel 
Elijah  Brush,  Major  Henry  J.  Hunt,  Richard 
Jones,  Judge  James  May,  Major  Stephen  Mack, 
Colonel  Gabriel  Godfroy,  Robert  Smart,  Doctor 
William  Brown,  Oliver  W.  Miller,  John  McDonell, 
Peter  Audrain,  Duncan  Reid,  and  Mr.  Macomb. 
Of  ladies  who  ransomed  Kentuckians,  he  men- 
tions Mesdemoiselles  Lasselle,  Labadie,  Scott, 
Hays,  and  others  not  specified. 


Chap.  XII. J  BENEFACTORS  OF   PRISONERS.  351 

Of  these  sterling  patriots.  Colonel  Brush  was 
a  son-in-law  of  John  Askin,  and  Major  Hunt  of 
Angus  Mackintosh,  prominent  gentlemen  of 
Canada,  but  neither  ever  swerved  from  his  duty. 
Judge  May  was  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  of 
Detroit,  having  lived  there  since  1778,  and  per- 
formed many  public  functions ;  Major  Mack  was 
an  officer  of  the  Legion  ;  Mr.  Audrain  was  Clerk, 
Register,  Judge  of  Probate,  and  everything  else 
which  required  clerkly  skill  and  strict  integrity ; 
John  McDonell  was  in  after  years  prominent  in 
Territorial  and  State  affairs,  and  an  excellent 
citizen  ;  Colonel  Godfroy  was  an  Indian  trader  of 
great  influence,  and  the  others  were  business  men 
of  note.  Robert  Smart  and  Doctor  Brown,  lived 
to  a  great  old  age,  bachelors  and  inseparable 
friends,  quiet  in  their  ways  and  full  of  the  milk 
of  human  kindness,  and  in  death  they  were  not 
divided.  They  lie  side  by  side  in  Elm  wood,  and 
the  broad  slabs  that  contain  their  quaint  epitaphs 
cover  two  honest  men,  well  worthv  to  be  held 
in  remembrance.  The  rest  were  not  left  without 
relatives  still  living  among  us,  and  have  also  an 
honorable  reputation. 

Most  of  these  gentlemen,  and  one,  at  least,  of 
the  ladies,  incurred  Proctor's  malignant  hatred  for 
these  works  of  mercy.  He  at  once  prohibited  any 
further  ransom  of  prisoners  ;  the  result  of  which 
was  that  so  many  as  remained  among  the  Indians 
forever  disappeared,  and  the  manner  of  their  dis- 
appearance   can     easily    be     divined.       If     Major 


352  WOODWARD  COMPLAINS  TO  PROCTOR.         [Chap.  XII. 

Graves  was  not  the  prisoner  whose  death  was 
announced  to  Mr.  Abbott,  he  must  have  perished 
speedily,  as  he  was  not  seen  further,  and  the 
River  Rouge  was  well  settled,  and  constantly 
visited. 

On  the  2nd  of  February,  Judge  Woodward, 
whose  position  as  Territorial  Secretary  under 
Proctor's  own  appointment,  gave  him  better  means 
of  knowledge  than  any  one  else,  and  who,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  had  been  the  resort  for  advice 
and  help  of  the  people  of  the  whole  region,  pre- 
sented to  General  Proctor  a  very  plain  and  direct 
letter,  which  put  that  officer  to  some  uneasiness. 
The  following  is  the  principal  substance  of  it: 

"  It  is  well  known  to  you,  sir,  that  the  capitu- 
lation of  the  1 6th  of  August,  1812,  has  suffered 
many  infractions  in  every  quarter  of  the  Territory, 
by  the  savages  in  the  employ  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment. The  inhabitants  have  borne  them  with 
unexampled  patience.  They  have  entertained  a 
constant  apprehension  that  when  the  American 
forces  approach  the  Territory,  and  when  an  en- 
gagement has  taken  place,  the  fury  of  the  savage 
mind  at  the  sight  of  blood,  and  in  reflecting  on 
the  dead  they  lose,  and  perhaps  on  the  retaliatory 
treatment  of  prisoners  or  of  the  dead,  which  their 
cruel  mode  of  warfare  produced,  is  always  likely 
to  drive  them  to  an  ignoble  revenge  on  the  pris- 
oners they  find  in  the  country,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  it  who  are  American  citizens.  They,  therefore, 
pressed  the  subject  on  your  attention  previous  to 


Chap.  XII.  |  VIOLATIONS  OF  THE  CAPITULATION. 


353 


the  battle  of  the  2  2d  January,  181 3,  and  felt  satis- 
fied with  your  assurance,  that  you  considered 
your  own  honor  pledged  for  their  effectual  pro- 
tection. Since  the  result  of  that  battle,  facts  are 
before  their  faces  which  they  cannot  shut  their 
eyes  upon.  Some  of  them  are,  perhaps,  unknown 
to  yourself.  I  will  enumerate  some  which  I  be- 
lieve there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  establishing  be- 
yond the  reach  of  contradiction  : 

"First.  Some  of  the  prisoners,  after  the  cap- 
itulation of  the  2 2d  January,  181 3,  have  been 
tomahawked  by  the  savages. 

"Second.  Some  of  the  prisoners,  after  that 
capitulation,  have  been  shot  by  the  savages. 

"  Third.  Some  of  the  prisoners,  after  that 
capitulation,  have  been  burnt  by  the  savages." 

The  4th,  5th  and  6th  charges  include  shooting 
and  pillaging  the  inhabitants,  and  burning  their 
houses.  The  Judge  urges  that  General  Proctor 
enter  into  some  convention  with  the  citizens,  to 
rectify  the  evils.  General  Proctor  having,  in  writ- 
ing, through  his  aid-de-camp,  asked  for  proofs, 
they  were  furnished  abundantly,  and  have  been 
preserved  and  published  by  the  United  States 
Government.  But  he  also  sent  a  verbal  message 
through  Major  Muir,  which  Judge  Woodward  re- 
garded as  dishonorable,  and  which  led  him  to  ask 
his  passport.  In  this  message  Proctor  asserted 
"that  there  was  no  capitulation  on  the  2 2d  Jan- 
uary, and  that  the  prisoners  surrendered  at  dis- 
23 


354  TYRANNICAL  MEASURES.  [Chai\  XII. 

cretion."  As  Judge  Woodward  had  not  the  means 
of  proof  on  this  subject,  he  assumed  Proctor  would 
not  falsify  it.  But  in  this  he  did  him  more  than 
justice.  The  part  of  the  message  which  he  re- 
sented, was  Muir's  suggestion  that  the  French 
citizens  should  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
King.  Upon  the  character  of  such  a  suggestion, 
to  persons  remaining  under  a  capitulation  pro- 
tecting them  and  their  property,  he  used  very 
strong  language.  He  immediately  departed  for 
Washington,  and  not  only  informed  the  govern- 
ment of  what  had  passed,  but  at  the  request  of 
a  committee  in  Albany,  published  his  correspond- 
ence, and  some  of  the  testimony,  for  general  in- 
formation. 

Proctor,  relieved  from  the  presence  of  a  man 
whom  he  both  respected  and  feared,  gave  full 
scope  to  his  malice.  He  ordered  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Frenchtown  to  Detroit.  Israel  Ruland 
and  Doctor  William  McDowell  Scott  were  arrested 
and  sent  below,  where  they  were  long  held  in 
close  imprisonment  on  the  pretext  of  being  Brit- 
ish subjects  adhering  to  the  Americans.  Scott 
was  most  harshly  treated,  as  a  man  of  much  in- 
dependence and  influence.  He  had  been  in  the 
Territory  since  1800,  and  had  occupied  a  judicial 
position  under  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  and  was 
Marshal  of  Michigan.  He  was  an  Irishman  by 
birth,  and  a  very  pleasant  and  cultivated  gentle- 
man. His  descendants  are  still  in  Detroit.  Mr. 
Kinzie  of  Chicago  had  been    previously  subjected 


Chap.  XII.]  BANISHMENT  OF  CITIZENS. 


355 


to  infamous  cruelty  on  some  similar  pretext,  and 
Mrs.  Helm,  after  three  months'  imprisonment 
among  the  Indians,  was  shut  up  another  three 
months  in  a  British  prison  to  gratify  his  spite. 

But  he  had  determined  to  get  rid  of  all  trouble- 
some witnesses  still  earlier.  At  the  end  of  Janu- 
ary, when  he  stopped  the  ransom  of  prisoners, 
he  went  further,  and  ordered  to  be  banished  from 
the  Territory  all  the  leading  Americans,  except 
those  of  French  origin  and  other  natives.  This 
explains  why  the  proposition  was  made  to  reach 
the  native  French  inhabitants  who  had  once  been 
British  subjects,  and  terrify  them  into  swearing 
allegiance  to  Great  Britain.  On  the  first  day  of 
February,  .1813,  a  meeting  was  held  by  several  of 
these  obnoxious  gentlemen,  to  express  their  views 
on  the  subject,  and  the  names  appended  embrace 
several  of  those  mentioned  by  Baker.  They  ex- 
press their  indignation  at  Proctor's  cruelty  in  send- 
ing them  away  and  separating  them  from  their 
families  in  Detroit,  who  would  be  deprived  of 
their  protection  ;  declare  the  act  a  direct  violation 
of  the  capitulation,  which  promised  them  protec- 
tion ;  assert  their  right  and  duty  not  to  submit 
to  such  wrongs  without  compulsion,  and  their  re- 
solution to  enforce  against  him  by  proceedings 
in  justice  all  rights  which  can  be  maintained ; 
acknowledge  tl;eir  duty  to  maintain  obedience  so 
long  as  protected  by  the  British  flag,  without  pre- 
judice to  their  American  citizenship ;  pass  a  high 
encomium  on  Woodward,  and  request  him  to  urge 


356  NAMES  OF  THE  BANISHED.  IChai-.  XII. 

a  revocation  of  the  obnoxious  order.  His  inter- 
vention was  made  in  the  manner  already  spoken 
of,  and  he  not  only  failed  to  do  them  any  good, 
but  felt  compelled  to  depart  himself.  The  names 
signed  to  this  document  (corrected  from  personal 
information  so  far  as  obtained)  were,  Lewis  Bond, 
David  McClean,  William  Wilson,  John  Dicks,  Ar- 
chibald Lyon,  Israel  Taylor,  Anderson  Martin,  Wil- 
liam M.  Scott,  David  Henderson,  William  Russell, 
Joseph  Spencer,  James  Patterson,  George  R.  Chit- 
tenden, William  Robertson,  John  Walker,  Conrad 
Seek,  Elijah  Brush,  Conrad  TenEyck,  Peter  J. 
Desnoyers,  Robert  Smart,  James  Bennett,  Richard 
H.  Jones,  William  Brown,  John  McDonell,  John 
Congsett,  Duncan  Reid,  A.  Langan,  George  Batt- 
zes  (?)  James  Chittenden.1  Of  these,  Mr.  Desnoy- 
ers, though  French,  and  bearing  a  name  found  in 
Canada,  was  not  born  in  this  country,  but  was  a 
native  of  France,  and  settled  in  Detroit  just  after 
the  Americans  took  possession.  He  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  great  worth,  and  died  a  few  years  since, 
universally  respected.  His  son,  Peter  Desnoyers, 
then  a  lad,  and  now  living,  was  one  of  the  early 
State  Treasurers. 

Having  got  rid  at  home  of  all  troublesome 
disturbers  of  such  conscience  as  he  possessed,  the 
attention  of  General  Proctor  was  soon  called  to 
matters  outside.  The  news  of  the  massacre  of 
the  River  Raisin  was  received  with  a  general 
burst  of  indignation,  and  the  people  of  Kentucky, 

*  4  Niles,  91. 


Chap.  XII.]  WESTERN   MOVEMENTS.  357 

who  had  especially  suffered  from  the  murder  of 
their  friends  and  kinsmen,  determined  not  to  leave 
them  unavenged.  Steps  were  at  once  taken  to 
embody  large  forces  of  volunteers  in  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky, and  all  other  parts  of  the  west,  and  the 
service  was  sought  with  alacrity.  It  became  evi- 
dent that  the  Indians  had  put  themselves  where 
their  condition  was  desperate,  unless  they  could 
secure  undisputed  possession  of  their  ancient 
hunting  grounds;  and  they  gave  General  Proctor 
plainly  to  understand  that  as  they  had  allied  them- 
selves with  the  British  for  their  own  advantage, 
as  well  as  to  protect  Canada,  it  was  time  some 
aggressive  measures  were  taken  to  drive  out  the 
Americans.  All  the  available  forces  of  the  sava- 
ges were  gathered  for  the  work,  and  the  British 
added  their  share  of  white  troops,  and  assumed 
the  task  of  defeating  the  army  in  Ohio.  General 
Harrison  had  been  unable  to  get  intelligence  early 
enough  to  reach  the  Raisin,  to  take  part  in  the 
battle,  and  its  result  rendered  any  immediate  ad- 
vance on  Maiden  impracticable.  It  was,  therefore, 
resolved  to  make  complete  preparation  for  a  fu- 
ture attack,  with  forces  r equal  to  the  emergency. 
A  fort  was  thrown  up  at  the  Maumee  Rapids, 
named  Fort  Meigs,  after  the  Governor  of  Ohio. 
On  the  first  of  May,  1813,  Proctor,  with  a  large 
force  of  British  and  Indians,  well  supplied  with 
artillery,  began  an  attack  upon  the  fort,  then  oc- 
cupied by  General  Harrison.  The  siege  lasted 
until  the  5th,  when  it  was  raised,  and  the  besiegers 


358  BATTLE  OF  FORT  MEIGS.  \Ctinv.  XII. 

returned  in  some  haste  towards  Maiden.  The 
garrison  had  been  reinforced  by  General  Green 
Clay  during  the  siege,  and  a  part  of  his  army, 
under  Colonel  Dudley,  after  carrying  out  a  well- 
devised  plan  for  capturing  the  British  batteries 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  had  been  led  away 
by  their  ardor  into  advancing  against  orders  too 
far,  and  were  mostly  killed  or  captured.  On  this 
occasion  the  barbarities  of  Frenchtown  were  re- 
newed, under  the  eyes  and  approval  of  Proctor. 
The  Indians  massacred  many  prisoners,  and  com- 
pelled others  to  run  the  gauntlet.  Leslie  Combs 
of  Kentucky,  then  a  boy  of  18,  yet  a  captain  and 
scout  of  great  sagacity  and  dauntless  courage, 
was  among  those  subjected  to  this  cruelty,  and 
his  description  of  the  occurrences  has  been  pre- 
served and  repeated  on  many  occasions,  and  is 
well  known.  Proctor's  conduct  on  this  occasion 
was  rebuked  by  Tecumseh,  who  in  person  inter- 
fered and  stopped  the  atrocities,  and  tauntingly 
bade  Proctor  to  go  off  and  put  on  petticoats,  for 
he  was  unfit  to  command  soldiers. 

Soon  after  this  Dickson,  a  noted  trader,  had 
started  from  Mackinaw,  and  gone  southward 
through  the  Green  Bay  country  and  Wisconsin, 
gathering  the  Indians  in  force;  and  early  in  the 
summer  he  arrived  in  Detroit,  where  Proctor  and 
Tecumseh  brought  together  a  large  army  to  make 
a  second  attempt  on  Harrison's  defences  in  Ohio. 
The  hopes  of  the  Indians  had  been  excited  by 
the  promise  that    Michigan    should    be    set    apart 


Chap.  XII.]  FORT  STEPHENSON.  359 

for  the  Prophet  and  his  followers,  and  they  set 
out  with  sanguine  assurance  of  success.  After 
various  movements  to  conceal  their  plans,  they  ap- 
proached Fort  Meigs.  Tecumseh  had  conceived 
the  plan  of  deceiving  the  garrison  into  supposing 
an  attack  had  been  made  by  the  allies  on  an 
American  force  outside, — expecting  by  this  means 
to  draw  out  the  garrison  into  an  ambuscade. 
General  Clay  was  on  his  guard,  and  although  the 
noises  were  very  suggestive  of  a  fierce  battle, 
and  his  officers  were  much  excited  and  anxious 
to  go  out  to  defend  their  friends,  he  had  been 
sufficiently  warned  to  remain  firm,  and  paid  no 
attention  to  the  mock  fight.  After  lingering  more 
than  a  day  in  the  neighborhood,  the  allied  forces 
concluded  to  let  the  garrison  alone,  and  separated, 
a  part  returning  to  Maiden  and  Detroit,  and  a 
part  moving  toward  Fort  Stephenson,  on  the  San- 
dusky River.  Harrison  had  his  army  where  it  was 
ready  to  move  eastward  or  westward,  as  might 
be  necessary,  as  the  whole  line  of  settlements  near 
Lake  Erie  was  threatened,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  be  sure  where  the  blows  would  fall.  The  coun- 
try being  a  wilderness,  and  the  savages  not  mov- 
ing in  the  manner  of  white  troops,  much  vigilance 
was  required  to  keep  informed  of  their  plans. 
The  forces  left  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Meigs  on  the 
27th  of  July.  On  the  31st  Proctor  appeared  be- 
fore Fort  Stephenson,  with  gunboats,  and  a  force 
of  490  regulars  and  500  of  Dickson's  Indians, 
with     about      2,000      Indians      under     Tecumseh, 


360 


FORT  STEPHENSON  BESIEGED.  [CHAr.  Xll. 


who  were  near  by  in  the  woods.  He  was 
accompanied,  as  usual,  by  Elliott,  the  In- 
dian agent,  who  was  sent  to  demancj  a  surrender. 
The  fort  was  garrisoned  by  George  Croghan,  a 
young  major  of  21  years,  with  a  garrison  of  167, 
and  one  six-pounder.  As  usual,  the  demand  for 
surrender  was  accompanied  by  the  representation 
that  it  was  made  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood, 
and  that  the  Indians  could  not  otherwise  be  re- 
strained. Lieutenant  Shipp,  who  was  sent  out  to 
meet  the  flag  of  truce,  knew,  as  did  Croghan  also, 
what  sort  of  restraint  General  Proctor  put  upon 
his  Indians,  and  surrender  was  not  in  their  minds 
any  more  appropriate  than  it  had  seemed  to  Har- 
rison at  Fort  Meigs,  who  had  expressed  his  opin- 
ion that  such  propositions,  with  such  suggestions, 
were  insulting.  Shipp  informed  them  that  when 
the  fort  was  taken,  there  would  be  no  one  left 
to  massacre ;  and  he  was  called  in  by  Croghan, 
not  before  he  had  been  assaulted  by  an  Indian  in 
the  presence  of  the  bearers  of  the  flag,  with  the 
evident  design  on  their  part  of  intimidating  him. 
The  work  was  not  supposed  defensible  against 
artillery,  but  the  little  garrison  strengthened  it 
while  the  assault  went  on.  They  had  no  fears  of 
the  Indians,  so  long  as  they  remained  in  their 
entrenchments,  and  they  determined  to  hold  out 
against  the  British  until  they  were  relieved  or  de- 
stroyed. All  night  long,  and  during  most  of  the 
next  day,  a  cannonade  was  kept  up  against  the 
little    fort,  with    no    effect.     The    six-pounder   was 


Chap.  XII.]  SLAUGHTER   OF  ASSAILANTS.  361 

used  by  the  defenders  very  sparingly,  for  lack  of 
ammunition,  but  their  unerring  rifles  kept  the  ene- 
my at  a  respectful  distance.  At  last  Proctor, 
chagrined  and  exasperated  at  the  effect  of  the 
obstinate  defence  on  his  Indian  allies,  and  afraid 
of  Harrison's  approach,  determined  to  storm  the 
fort.  Croghan,  calculating  that  the  assault  would 
be  made  against  a  weak  angle  of  the  fort,  by  first 
making  a  breach  and  then  pushing  up  along  the 
ditch,  strengthened  the  exposed  point  by  heaping 
up  bags  of  sand  and  flour,  and  placed  his  six- 
pounder  where  it  would  rake  the  approach,  load- 
ing it  with  a  light  charge  of  powder  and  a  double 
charge  of  leaden  slugs.  The  assault  was  made 
late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  2d  of  August.  After 
about  half  an  hour's  conflict  at  close  quarters, 
where  the  rifles  of  the  besieged  did  considerable 
damage  to  the  besiegers,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Short, 
of  the  regulars,  followed  by  his  men,  leaped  into 
the  ditch  and  approached  the  point  where  they 
supposed  the  defences  had  been  weakened.  When 
they  arrived  within  about  twenty  yards  the  gun 
was  unmasked,  and  the  first  discharge  threw  them 
back  in  disorder,  and  the  ditch  was  filled  with  a 
mass  of  dead  bodies,  and  struggling  men,  wounded 
and  confounded  at  the  terrible  havoc.  Those  who 
could  move  at  once  retreated,  and  the  whole  in- 
vesting force  withdrew.  The  number  of  the  killed 
among  the  British  is  not  known.  About  fifty  were 
left  in  the  ditch.  The  killed  and  missing  were 
stated  at  9T.     The  wounded  there  were  no  means 


362  INDIANS   DEMORALIZED.  [Chap.  XII. 

of  estimating.  The  Indian  loss  could  not  be  as- 
certained, as  they  took  off  all  their  killed  and 
wounded.  The  garrison  lost  one  killed  and  seven 
wounded — none  of  them  severely. 

During  the  night,  Proctor  departed  with  all  his 
company,  leaving  behind  a  gun-boat  loaded  with 
clothing  and  military  stores.  He  left  to  avoid 
Harrison. 

This  brilliant  defence  was  one  of  the  most 
glorious  exploits  in  our  annals,  and  Croghan  was 
justly  honored  with  universal  applause.  The  dis- 
asters of  Proctor  at  Fort  Meigs  and  Fort  Stephen- 
son shook  the  confidence  of  the  Indians,  and  they 
began  to  regard  him  as  a  failure.  But  they  were 
now  in  a  desperate  case.  They  had  gone  into 
Canada  and  in  many  instances  taken  their  families. 
They  had  brought  devastation  on  all  the  border 
country,  and  were  dependent  on  the  British  stores 
for  rescue  from  starvation.  The  United  States 
had  abstained  as  far  as  possible  from  using  Indian 
auxiliaries,  and  this  policy  had  been  the  cause  of 
the  defection  of  Walk-in-the-Water  and  Round- 
head. Immediately  after  the  Battle  of  Fort  Ste- 
phenson the  head  chief  of  the  Wyandots  Tarhee, 
(or  the  Crane,)  Black-hoof,  who  had  fought  against 
Braddock,  and  Big  Snake,  chiefs  of  the  Shaw- 
anoes,  and  Tocktowayning  or  Anderson,  chief  of 
the  Delawares,  asked  leave  of  Governor  Meigs 
and  General  Harrison  to  take  part  in  the  coming 
campaign.     They  brought  259  warriors. 


Chap.  Xtl.J  SHELBY  AND  THE  KENTUCKIANS.  363 

During  these  transactions  a  forged  letter  arrived 
in  Kentucky,  purporting  to  be  signed  by  General 
Harrison,  to  stop  recruiting,  which  was  acted  upon 
as  genuine  until  orders  came  for  speed  and 
urgency.     The  source  of  it  was  never  discovered. 

Kentucky  had  determined  to  send  forward  a 
large  volunteer  force,  and  enlistments  went  on 
with  enthusiasm.  The  venerable  Governor  Shelby, 
sixty-six  years  of  age,  but  still  active  and  stirring, 
announced  that  he  would  lead  them  in  person. 
His  gallantry  during  the  Revolution,  at  the  Battle 
of  King's  Mountain,  had  rendered  him  famous, 
and  just  as  these  events  were  progressing  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  through  the  hands  of 
Henry  Clay,  sent  him  a  magnificent  sword,  in  re- 
cognition of  his  services  in  that  battle.  Richard 
M.  Johnson,  afterwards  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States,  raised  a  regiment  of  mounted  rifle- 
men,—  a  class  of  soldiers  not  then  as  well  known 
as  they  have  been  since,  —  which  turned  out  to  be 
of  great  value.  Mounted  rangers  were  in  great 
demand  for  many  branches  of  service,  and  they 
were  held  in  mortal  terror  by  the  Indians,  who 
were  themselves  in  many  instances  very  bold 
riders,  but  never  in  this  region  did  much  fighting 
on  horseback. 

The  disaffected  tribes  in  Michigan  and  Indiana 
were  chiefly  the.  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Miamis, 
Weas  and  Potawatamies,  although  some  of  the 
Wyandots  had  been  gained  over,  and  Tecumseh 
had    more    or    less    of    his    own'  tribe    with    him. 


364 


OKEMOS.  [Chap.  XII. 


Dickson's  Indians  largely  represented  scattering 
tribes  of  the  further  west  and  north,  between  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  Mississippi.  Okemos,  one  of 
the  principal  Chippewa  chiefs  of  Michigan,  was 
present,  with  a  party  of  his  braves,  at  some  of  the 
engagements  along  the  Maumee  and  Sandusky. 
While  on  the  Sandusky  River,  they  were  startled 
one  day  by  the  approach  of  a  body  of  rangers, 
and  concealed  themselves  among  the  limbs  of  a 
large  tree,  that  had  recently  been  felled  or  blown 
over  near  the  trail.  The  soldiers  rode  by  without 
discovering  them,  but  one  young  brave,  after  they 
had  passed,  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  ris- 
ing upon  the  trunk  and  giving  the  war-whoop. 
The  troopers  were  upon  them  before  they  could 
escape  from  their  trap,  and  left  them  all  for  dead. 
After  some  time  Okemos  came  to  himself,  but 
his  eyes  were  blinded  with  clotted  blood,  and  his 
limbs  so  mangled  that  he  could  not  rise  or  help 
himself.  Cautiously  imitating  the  note  of  an  insect, 
he  was  answered,  and  discovered  that  his  brother 
also  lived,  but  as  helpless  as  himself.  By  painful 
efforts  they  managed  to  reach  a  little  stream  and 
wash  their  eyes  and  faces  clear,  and  by  crawling 
and  rolling  they  got  down  to  the  Sandusky  River, 
and  into  a  canoe.  They  were  unable  to  manage 
it,  and  drifted  down,  and  were  discovered  and 
relieved  by  friends.  By  the  time  they  were  able 
to  get  about,  the  Americans  had  regained  control 
in  Michigan,  and  Okemos  got  Colonel  Godfroy  to 
intercede  for  him  with  General  Cass.       He    after- 


Chap.  XII. J  COMMODORE   PERRY 


365 


wards,  with  the  rest  of  the  chiefs,  executed  a  treaty 
of  fidelity,  and  never  again  interfered  with  the 
Chemokoman.  He  lived  to  nearly  a  hundred 
years  of  age,  being  active  and  vigorous  in  body 
and  mind  to  the  day  of  his  death,  although  a 
wound  in  his  shoulder  never  healed,  and  his  head 
was  completely  furrowed  with  sabre-cuts.  His 
habits  were  temperate,  and  among  his  contempor- 
aries of  the  French,  he  was  always  welcome  and 
respected.  The  township  near  Lansing,  where  he 
spent  his  later  years,  bears  his  name.  His  memory 
was  very  accurate  and  tenacious. 

The  people  were  untiring  in  their  efforts,  and 
the  volunteer  army  began  to  assume  formidable 
proportions.  About  the  time  that  the  British  were 
compelled  to  retire  to  Canada,  Commodore  Oliver 
H.  Perry,  of  Rhode  Island,  had  fitted  out  his  little 
fleet  at  Erie,  to  try  conclusions  on  the  water. 
The  British  naval  chief  Captain  Barclay,  was  a 
brave  and  experienced  officer,  and  the  progress 
of  the  American  navy,  which  they  had  not  been 
able  to  interrupt,  does  not  appear  to  have  given 
much  uneasiness  to  the  enemy.  General  Harri- 
son had  made  his  plans  to  cross  over  into  Cana- 
da by  the  aid  of  Perry's  fleet,  and  the  time  ap- 
proached for  aggressive  measures.  On  the  31st 
of  July,  3,500  mounted  volunteers  had  appeared  at 
Newport,  Kentucky,  where  Shelby  had  called  for 
less  than  half  that  number.  In  due  time,  when  some- 
what disciplined,  they  moved  northward.  At  Ur- 
bana  the  army  was  organized  into  eleven  regiments, 


366  NAVAL  MOVEMENTS.  |Chap.  XII. 

five  brigades  and  two  divisions.  On  the  15th  and 
1 6th  of  September,  the  whole  of  Harrison's  army, 
except  Colonel  Johnson's  Regiment,  was  encamped 
on  Lake  Erie,  and  the  prisoners  taken  by  Com- 
modore Perry  had  been  landed  and  put  in  charge 
of  a  guard.  Johnson  was  to  move  round  the 
lake  when  the  embarkation  of  the  rest  of  the 
troops  began. 

On  the  5th  of  August,  Perry  floated  his  ships 
over  the  bar  at  Erie  into  deep  water,  and  on  the 
1 2th  moved  westward  with  ten  vessels,  great  and 
small,  and  reached  Put-in-Bay  on  the  15th.  Here 
he  was  in  communication  with  Harrison,  and  their 
plans  were  soon  matured.  Barclay  gathered  his 
fleet  in  Maiden,  from  which  place  Perry  made  va- 
rious futile  efforts  to  draw  him  out.  Having  as- 
certained that  Proctor's  need  of  provisions  would 
compel  Barclay  to  communicate  with  Long  Point, 
Perry  made  preparations  for  an  immediate  battle, 
and  on  the  9th  of  September  he  determined,  if 
there  should  be  further  delay,  to  proceed  to  Mai- 
den and  attack  the  British  fleet.  He  had  received 
accurate  information  of  the  strength  of  each  of 
Barclay's  vessels,  through  Major  Henry  B.  Bre- 
voort,  of  the  army.  This  gentleman,  whose  family 
resided  in  Detroit,  was  equally  at  home  on  the 
land  and  on  the  water,  and  was  well  known  to 
all  the  old  citizens  of  Detroit  as  one  of  the  most 
transparently  honest  and  single-minded  of  men, 
brave,  intelligent,  and  one  who  when  he  swore  to 
another    disappointed    him  not,  though    it  were    to 


Chap.  XII.  I  HATTLE  OF   LAKE  ERIE. 


367 


his  own  hindrance.  He  rendered  good  service 
in  the  fleet  as  commander  of  marines  on  the  Ni- 
agara, and  the  knowledge  which  he  had  obtained 
enabled  Commodore  Perry  to  plan  the  work  of 
each  of  his  vessels  in  advance,  so  that  the  gene- 
ral scheme  was  arranged  the  night  before  the 
vessels  came  out,  although  some  changes  became 
necessary  when  the  time  of  action  approached. 

At  day-break  on  the  ioth  of  September,  the 
look-out  from  Gibraltar  Island,  at  the  mouth  of 
Put-in-Bay,  discovered  the  British  fleet,  and  Perry 
sailed  out  to  meet  it.  The  vessels  engaged  on 
the  British  side  were  the  ships  Detroit  and  Queen 
Charlotte,  brig  Hunter,  schooners  Lady  Prevost 
and  Chippewa,  and  sloop  Little  Belt,  carrying  63 
carriage-guns,  one  pivot-gun,  two  swivels,  and  four 
howitzers.  The  American  fleet  consisted  of  the 
brigs  Lawrence,  Niagara  and  Caledonia,  schooners 
Ariel,  Scorpion,  Tigress  and  Porcupine,  and  sloop 
Trippe,  carrying  52  guns  and  two  swivels.  The 
Lawrence  and  Niagara  each  had  20  guns,  three 
of  the  other  vessels  having  one  gun  each,  and 
the  others  two,  three  and  four.  The  British  had 
more  long  guns, — the  Americans  more  carronades, 
but  heavier  metal.  The  numerical  forces  of  men 
were  very  nearly  equal.  Captain  Barclay  had  a 
larger  proportion  of  old  man-of-war's  men. 

The  engagement  began  a  quarter  before  noon. 
At  three  o'clock  the  British  fleet  surrendered, 
after  one  of  the  closest  engagements  known  in 
naval    history.     No    entire    British    fleet   had    ever 


368 


PERRY'S  VICTORY.  [Chap.  XII. 


been  captured  before.  The  utmost  bravery  was 
shown  on  both  sides.  The  American  loss  was  27 
killed  and  96  wounded  ;  the  British  41  killed  and 
94  wounded.  Most  of  the  loss  in  the  American 
fleet  was  on  Perry's  flag-ship,  the  Lawrence,  which 
lost  22  killed  and  61  wounded.  The  brave  vic- 
tor was  as  humane  as  he  was  valiant,  and  the 
dead  of  both  fleets  were  buried  together,  with  the 
same  honors  and  the  same  solemn  services,  while 
the  wounded  were  all  tenderly  cared  for,  and  the 
unfortunate  British  commander,  who  was  dread- 
fully crippled,  was  treated  with  the  generous 
kindness  which  he  deserved. 

Perry's  subordinate  commanders  of  vessels 
were  Jesse  D.  Elliott  in  the  Niagara,  Stephen 
Champlin  in  the  Scorpion,  John  H.  Pocket  in  the 
Ariel,  Daniel  Turner  in  the  Caledonia,  Thomas  C. 
Almy  in  the  Somers,  George  Senat  in  the  Porcu- 
pine, Augustus  H.  M.  Conklin  in  the  Tigress,  and 
Thomas  Holdress  in  the  Trippe.  Brevoort  com- 
manded a  detachment  of  soldiers  acting  as  ma- 
rines. 

Immediately  after  the  enemy  struck,  Perry 
wrote  upon  his  cap,  on  a.  scrap  of  paper,  his  cele- 
brated laconic  dispatch  :  "  We  have  met  the  ene- 
my and  they  are  ours,"  and  sent  it  to  Harrison, 
who  was  on  the  lake  shore  west  of  Sandusky, 
about  30  miles  from  the  scene  of  the  battle.  The 
cannonade  was  heard  as  far  off  as  Cleveland,  and 
Tecumseh,  from  his  camp  on  Bois-blanc  Island, 
had    listened    to    the  sounds,  and    endeavored    to 


Chap.  XII.  I        TECUMSEH  TAUNTS  PROCTOR. 


369 


determine  the  result  of  the  battle,  while  Proctor, 
at  Maiden,  was  equally  intent  to  listen.  Proctor 
concealed  the  result  from  his  Indian  ally  until  it 
was  impossible  to  prevent  his  knowledge  of  it. 
On  the  1 8th,  when  the  British  General  prepared 
to  evacuate  Maiden,  the  Indians  became  greatly 
excited  and  enraged  at  his  cowardice,  and  he  only 
pacified  them  by  promising  to  make  a  stand  at 
the  Moravian  towns  on  the  Thames.  Tecumseh 
felt  very  keenly  the  desperate  position  into  which 
he  and  his  followers  had  been  brought  by  their 
confidence  in  the  British,  and  insisted  that  Proctor 
should  at  least  stay  and  fight,  or  leave  the  arms 
and  ammunition  to  the  Indians,  who  would  resist 
to  the  last  extremity.  In  contempt  for  his  cow- 
ardice, he  compared  him  to  a  fat  cur,  sneaking 
off  with  his  tail  between  his  legs,  after  making  a 
great  show  of  courage.  Maiden  was  evacuated 
on  the  1 8th,  and  an  officer  was  left  behind  to 
burn  up  everything  as  soon  as  the  American 
army  made  its  appearance. 

The  fleet  was  now  used  to  bring  over  the 
troops  from  the  main  land.  It  was  impossible  to 
transport  the  horses,  and  these  were  all  left  in 
Ohio  with  a  guard,  while  the  soldiers  acted  as 
infantry.  They  at  first  encamped  on  Middle 
Sister  Island,  and  on  the  27th  of  September 
crossed  over  the  narrow  space  to  the  Canada  shore 
about  four  miles  below  Maiden.  They  at  once 
marched  into  Maiden  and  found  it  deserted  by  all 

24 


370  DETROIT   REGAINED.  [Chap.  XII. 

its  defenders.  Harrison  at  once  prepared  to  set 
out  after  Proctor,  but  without  any  expectation  of 
overtaking  him  until  he  should  reach  the  Thames, 
where  he  had  told  Tecumseh  he  meant  to  make 
a  stand.  It  was  necessary  to  obtain  a  few  horses, 
and  on  the  27th,  Harrison  wrote  to  Governor 
Meigs  that  "  a  miserable  French  pony,  upon  which 
the  venerable  and  patriotic  Governor  of  Kentucky 
was  mounted,  is  the  only  one  in  the  army."  On 
the  eve  of  landing,  Harrison  issued  a  brief  but 
spirited  order,  closing  with  this  significant  pass- 
age:  "  Kentuckians  —  remember  the  River  Rais- 
in ;  but  remember  it  only  while  the  victory  is  sus- 
pended. The  revenge  of  a  soldier  cannot  be 
gratified  upon  a  fallen  enemy."  The  sons  of  that 
noble  State  that  in  this  war  had  sent  out  more 
than  17,000  volunteers,  had  come  at  last  to  their 
opportunity,  and  they  did  not  abuse  it. 

Proctor  was  at  Sandwich  when  Harrison  landed, 
and  he  at  once  moved  eastward  with  the  Detroit 
garrison  and  all  his  auxiliaries.  On  the  28th,  the 
American  Army  reached  Sandwich,  and  General 
Duncan  McArthur  crossed  over  and  took  posses- 
sion of  the  fort,  which  he  had  left  before  under 
such  different  circumstances.  The  overjoyed  in- 
habitants were  released  from  what  had  become  a 
reign  -of  terror.  The  fort  had  been  fired,  but  the 
flames  were  extinguished,  and  General  McArthur 
drove  off  a  horde  of  hostile  Indians,  who  were 
prowling  round  the  neighborhood.  The  fleet 
arrived  the  same  day.  On  the  29th,  General 
Harrison    issued    his    proclamation,    restoring    the 


Chap.  XII.  I  BATTLE  OF  THE   THAMES.  371 

civil  authority  as  it  had  been  before  the  surrender, 
and  entrusting  its  administration  to  the  old  in- 
cumbents when  present,  and  to  their  next  pre- 
decessors, if  absent.  Colonel  Johnson's  Riflemen 
came  up  on  the  30th,  and  crossed  into  Canada 
the  day  after. 

The  American  flag  is  said  to  have  been  raised 
by  the  inhabitants  before  McArthur's  entrance. 
But  it  never  floated  again  from  the  old  flag-staff. 
That  was  left  bare  and  uncared  for  as  a  memorial 
and  warning,  until  a  few  years  afterwards,  in  June, 
1820,  it  was  blown  over  by  a  severe  wind  and 
ceased  to  be  visible  over  the  walls.  What  igno- 
minious uses  its  ruins  may  have  served  it  is  not 
recorded.     It  was  not  in  demand  for  relics. 

McArthur's  command  was  left  to  hold  Detroit. 
Cass's  brigade  was  left  at  Sandwich,  and  Harrison, 
with  a  force  of  about  3,500,  on  the  2nd  of  Oc- 
tober, pushed  on  by  land  after  Proctor, — the 
smaller  vessels  of  the  fleet  sailing  up  the  Thames. 
Proctor  was  at  last  overtaken  at  the  Moravian 
towns,  and  compelled  to  give  battle  on  the  5th. 
The  mounted  riflemen  dashed  through  the  British 
line  and  turned  it,  and  in  less  than  ten  minutes 
the  whole  force  was  captured,  except  General 
Proctor  and  17  officers  and  239  men.  The  official 
reports  of  his  own  government  show  that  he  was 
regarded  as  having  been  guilty  of  grossly  dis- 
graceful conduct.1     His  brave  ally,  Tecumseh,  met 

1  Sir  George  Prevost,  in  his  general  orders,  uses  this  severe  language  : 
"On  this  disgraceful  day,  upwards  of  600  officers  and  soldiers  were  taken 


372 


TECUMSEH   KILLED.  (Chap.  XII. 


a  soldier's  death  by  the  hands  of  a  very  brave 
enemy,  having  been  shot  by  Colonel  Richard  M. 
Johnson,  while  the  latter  was  wounded  and  held 
down  by  his  own  horse,  which  had  fallen  on  him, 
and  Tecumseh  was  approaching  to  kill  him.  James 
Knaggs,  who  aided  in  carrying  Colonel  Johnson 
off  the  field,  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Te- 
cumseh, and  recognized  him  when  pointed  out  by 
Colonel  Johnson  as  an  Indian  whom  he  had  shot 
in  self-defence.  Probably  no  one  in  the  army  had  i 
as  good  a  knowledge  of  Tecumseh  as  Captain 
Knaggs,  who  had  been  for  years  an  interpreter, 
and  familiar  with  all  the  chiefs.  The  identity  of 
the  slayer  and  of  the  slain  is  as  well  established 
as  testimony  can    establish  anything. 

General  Cass  and  Commodore  Perry  acted  as 
volunteer  aids  to  General  Harrison,  and  he  gave 
great  credit  to  both  for  their  efficient  help  in 
making  his  arrangements  and  preparations. 

On  the  7th,  which  was  the  anniversary  of  the 
Battle  of  King's  Mountain,  Governor  Shelby  was 
put  in  command  of  the  army,  and  Harrison  left 
for  Detroit.  On  the  14th  he  appointed  General 
Cass  Provisional  Governor  of  Michigan  Terri- 
tory. 

The  Indians  began  to  desert  Proctor  before 
the  battle.     Walk-in-the-Water  left  him  some  days 

prisoners  almost  without  a  struggle,  of  whom  but  very  few  appeared  to 
have  been  rescued  by  an  honorable  death  from  the  ignominy  of  passing 
under  the  American  yoke,  nor  are  there  many  whose  wounds  plead  in 
mitigation  of  this  reproach." — Brock's  Life,  366. 


Chap.  XII.]  FAILURE  AT   MACKINAW.  373  . 

before,  and  begged  permission  after  the  battle  to 
follow  him  up,  and  thus  atone  for  his  own  de- 
linquency. The  tribes  were  left  by  the  result  of 
the  campaign  on  the  verge  of  starvation.  Harri- 
son treated  them  kindly,  and  the  hostile  forces, 
consisting  chiefly  of  Potawatamies,  Ottawas,  Chip- 
pewas,  several  bands  of  Miamis  and  Weas,  and 
some  Wyandots,  came  in  and  gave  hostages,  and 
were  supplied  with  food.  The  victories  on  Lake 
Erie  and  the  Thames  ended  the  Indian  troubles, 
except  an  occasional  outrage  from  small  bands, 
not  approved  by  the  tribes. 

Several  expeditions  were  sent  out  from  time 
to  time  into  Canada  before  the  war  closed. 
General  McArthur,  in  1814,  penetrated  nearly  to 
Lake  Ontario,  and  swept  back  along  Lake  Erie, 
doing  much  mischief  to  the  enemy.  Fort  Gratiot 
was  built  in  that  year  by  the  officer  whose  name 
it  bears. 

An  attempt  was  also  made  in  181 4  to  fetake 
Mackinaw,  which  failed,  and  Major  Holmes,  a  very 
brave  officer,  from  whom  the  old  fort  was  after- 
wards named,  was  killed.  The  British  were  aided 
in  this  instance  by  whites  from  the  Sault,  and  by 
detachments  in  force  from  Green  Bay,  composed 
chiefly  of  Frenchmen  owing  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  and  Menominie  Indians,  under  their 
great  chief  Thomas,  (usually  called  in  imitation  of 
its  French  sound  Tomaw,)  who  was  as  remarkable 
in  his  gifts  as  Tecumseh,  but  less  capable  of  self- 
control. 


374 


NEGLECT  OF   BENEFACTORS.  TChap.  Xll. 


The  Territory  now  began  anew  its  career  as 
an  American  community.  Henceforth,  the  evil 
influences  of  British  jealousy  and  cupidity  ceased 
to  operate  to  its  ruin.  Though  for  many  years 
there  were  occasional  encroachments,  the  region 
was  no  longer  debatable  ground,  and  the  Indians 
generally  acknowledged  the  American  supremacy. 

It  is  time  that  the  men  who  rescued  Michigan 
from  its  thraldom  were  remembered  with  less 
perishable  memorials  than  the  annals  of  the  War 
Department.  Even  General  Cass  received  his 
only  public  memorial  by  having  a  county  named 
after  him,  in  company  with  the  members  of  General 
Jackson's  Cabinet,  and  not  for  his  civil  or  military 
services.  Harrison,  and  McArthur,  and  Miller, 
and  Johnson,  and  Perry,  and  all  their  brave  coad- 
jutors, have  been  passed  over  in  silence.  The 
name  of  Shelby,  first  given  to  the  fort  at  Detroit, 
was  dropped  for  that  of  Wayne,  and  the  gallant 
old  governor  has  no  memorial. 

As  soon  as  careful  search  had  discovered  and 
identified  the  body  of  Captain  Hart,  he  was  ex- 
humed and  buried  in  Detroit  with  every  honor 
which  could  be  paid  to  his  lifeless  remains.  It 
can  never  be  too  late  to  perform  our  duty  to  the 
rest  —  now  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  earthly 
glory,  by  doing  something  whereby  they  may  be 
worthily  commemorated. 

A  few  years  ago,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1872,  the 
survivors    of   the    massacre  of   the  Raisin,  and    of 


Chap.  XII. J  HONORED    MEMORIES.  375 

the  battles  that  succeeded  it,  met  at  Monroe,  to 
review  the  scenes  of  that  time  of  trial ;  and  the 
brave  men  who  had  all  passed  far  beyond  their 
three  score  and  ten  were  gratified  by  the  homage 
of  the  younger  generations,  for  whose  heritage 
they  and  their  dead  comrades  had  faced  the  perils 
of  savage  warfare,  and  redeemed  Michigan  for 
American  liberty.  To  those  for  whom  they  saved 
it,  the  fame  of  the  honored  dead  of  Kentucky  and 
Ohio  should  be  as  dear  as  that  of  Washington 
and  his  companions  in  arms,  and  the  memory  of 
that  heroic  struggle  should  bind  these  States 
together  with  the  warmest  love  of  kindred. 

Among  the  other  benefits  of  the  Centennial 
celebration,  we  ought  to  number  the  renewal  and 
perpetuation  of  all  those  honorable  remembrances ; 
and  the  evidences  of  our  gratitude  should  be 
gracious  and  lasting. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR    CASS. 

General  Cass  was  made  permanent  Governor 
of  Michigan  Territory,  and  William  Woodbridge, 
of  Marietta,  Ohio,  was  appointed  Secretary.  Mr. 
Atwater,  who  had  left  Detroit  immediately  after 
the  surrender,  never  came  back.  The  Judges 
retained  their  offices  until  the  change  in  their 
tenure,  created  in  1823,  by  the  act  re-organizing 
the  Territory. 

The  war  had  scattered  the  people,  and  the 
population  had  fallen  away  considerably.  It  was 
not  until  peace  was  finally  declared  that  the 
country  was  entirely  relieved  from  the  ravages  of 
the  hostile  Indians.  While  most  of  them  had 
made  peace,  and  behaved  reasonably  well,  the 
Saginaw  band  of  Kishkaukon  was  very  trouble- 
some. Murders  and  outrages  were  committed  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Detroit,  and  within 
its  corporate  limits.  The  people,  when  they  had 
a  chance  to  reach  the  aggressors,  followed  them 
up  vigorously.  General  Cass  acted  in  these 
emergencies  with  great  energy,  and  went  out  in 
person  with  the  volunteers  to  chastise  the  marau- 


Chap.  XIII.]  PEACE  WITH   INDIANS. 


377 


ders.  After  the  failure  of  the  Mackinaw  expedi- 
tion, no  further  attempt  was  made  in  that  quarter 
till  the  treaty  of  peace.  Fort  Gratiot,  built  at 
the  place  once  occupied  by  Fort  St.  Joseph  in  the 
1 7th  century,  was  intended,  like  that,  to  control 
the  passage  to  and  from  Lake  Huron,  as  the 
northern  Indians  generally  travelled  in  their  canoes 
through  the  River  St.   Clair. 

On  the  22nd  of  July,  1814,  Generals  Harrison 
and  Cass  made  a  treaty  at  Greenville,  between 
the  United  States  and  the  Wyandots,  Delawares, 
Shawanoes  and  Senecas  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
Miamis,  (known  as  the  Miami  Eel  River  and 
Weea  tribes)  and  a  portion  of  the  Potawatamies, 
Ottawas,  and  Kickapoos,  whereby  it  was  agreed 
they  should  all  make  peace,  and  enter  into 
alliance  with  the  United  States,  acknowledging 
their  supremacy.  On  the  8th  of  September,  181 5, 
Harrison,  McArthur,  and  John  Graham,  made  peace 
with  all  of  those  tribes,  as  well  as  with  the  Chippe- 
was,  residing  in  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Michigan. 
This  was  not  signed  by  very  many  of  the  Chip- 
pewa or  Ottawa  chiefs.  Okemos  signed  it  as  a 
chief  of  the  Ottawas. 

The  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain  did 
not  put  an  immediate  end  to  the  bad  feeling. 
This  stipulated  for  the  immediate  restoration  of 
all  places  captured,  with  all  papers,  public  and 
private,  and  for  determining,  by  commissioners, 
the  boundary  line  in  those  waters  where  the 
position    of    islands    or    other    difficulties    made    it 


378  BORDER    VEXATIONS.  fCHAr.  XIII. 

doubtful,  and  pledged    each    government  to    place 
the  Indians  where  they  were  in   1811. 

The  British  officers  near  Detroit  paid  no  at- 
tention to  the  boundary  lines,  but  pursued  desert- 
ers into  the  United  States,  and  on  some  occasions 
undertook  to  assert  jurisdiction  over  American 
citizens  on  Grosse  He  and  in  American  waters. 
An  Indian  was  killed  at  Grosse  He  in  the  act  of 
attempting  to  murder  an  American,  and  the  com- 
manding officer  at  Maiden,  Colonel  James,  directed 
an  inquest,  and  offered  a  reward  for  the  per- 
son who  killed  him.  Governor  Cass  at  once 
issued  a  proclamation  enjoining  the  proper  asser- 
tion and  protection  of  American  jurisdiction. 
Colonel  Butler,  commanding  at  Detroit,  had  also 
occasion  to  hold  a  sharp  correspondence  with 
Colonel  James,  concerning  various  infractions  of 
right.  In  addition  to  other  grievances,  it  was 
understood  that  Mackinaw  was  not  likely  to  be 
surrendered,  and  that  the  Indians  (which  probably 
meant  Dickson  and  the  traders)  meant  to  hold  it. 
Maiden  was  retained  until  such  arrangements 
were  made  as  ensured  the  delivery  of  Mackinaw. 
On  the  first  of  July,  181 5,  Maiden  was  turned 
over  to  the  British,  and  an  American  force  sailed 
for  Mackinaw,  and  took  possession. 

But  the  distance  from  headquarters,  or  some 
other  cause,  rendered  some  of  the  British  officers 
in  this  region  extremely  insolent,  and  for  a  year 
or  two  there  were  continued  aggressions.  The 
American  navy  on  Lake  Erie  had  been  dismantled, 


Chap.  XlIL]  SEARCH  OP  LAKE  VESSELS.  379 

and  the  naval  officers  at  Maiden,  in  1816,  under- 
took to  visit  and  search  American  vessels,  under 
pretext  of  looking  for  deserters,  thus  renewing  on 
the  lakes  the  outrages  which  had  led  to  the  war. 
General  Cass,  on  being  informed  of  these  insults, 
wrote  a  strong  letter  to  the  Maiden  officials,  and 
laid  the  matter  before  the  authorities  at  Washing- 
ton, where  no  doubt  the  acts  were  repudiated,  as 
they  were  not  repeated,  and  were  probably  ex- 
cesses of  instructions  and  mere  private  impertin- 
ence. The  intrigues  with  the  Indians  were  kept 
up,  both  about  Detroit  and  in  the  north,  and 
American  territory  was  used  in  that  region  for 
purposes  very  unfriendly  to  the  United  States. 
The  trading  companies  paid  no  heed  whatever  to 
law  or  international  obligations.  It  was  not  until 
two  Indians  were  hung  for  murder  at  Detroit, 
instead  of  being  as  usual  despatched  in  more 
summary  fashion,  that  a  full  check  was  put  to 
their  outrages  in  that  neighborhood. 

The  first  necessity  of  the  country  was  more 
people.  No  lands  had  been  surveyed  before  the 
war,  except  the  old  private  claims.  In  181 2, 
among  other  war  legislation,  an  act  was  passed 
setting  aside  two  millions  of  acres  of  land  in 
Michigan,  as  bounty  lands  for  soldiers.  As  soon 
as  the  war  was  over,  and  circumstances  permitted, 
Mr.  Tiffin,  the  Surveyor  General,  sent  agents  to 
Michigan  to  select  a  place  for  locating  these  lands. 
Their  report  was  such  as  to  induce  him  to  re- 
commend the  tranfer  of  bounty  locations  to  some 


380 


REPORT  ON    BOUNTY   LANDS.  [Chap.  XIII. 


other  part  of  the  United  States.  They  began  on 
the  boundary  line  between  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
(which  was  the  western  limit  of  the  lands  sur- 
rendered to  the  United  States  by  the  Indian 
treaty  of  1807,)  and,  following  it  north  for  fifty 
miles,  they  described  the  country  as  an  unbroken 
series  of  tamarack  swamps,  bogs  and  sand-barrens, 
with  not  more  than  one  acre  in  a  hundred,  and 
probably  not  one  in  a  thousand,  fit  for  cultivation. 
Mr.  Tiffin  communicated  this  evil  report  to  the 
Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  Josiah 
Meigs,  and  he  and  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr. 
Crawford,  secured  the  repeal  of  so  much  of  the 
law  as  applied  to  Michigan.  They  were  stimulated 
by  a  second  report  of  the  surveyors,  who  found 
the  country  worse  and  worse  as  they  proceeded. 
In  April,  181 6,  the  law  was  changed,  and  lands 
were  granted,  instead,  in  Illinois  and  Missouri. 

This  postponed  settlements,  but  it  saved  Mich- 
igan from  one  of  the  most  troublesome  sources  of 
litigation  which  has  ever  vexed  any  country.  It 
was  in  that  way  a  benefit.  But  the  report  of  the 
surveyors  is  one  of  the  unaccountable  things  of 
those  days.  Surveyors  are  usually  good  judges  of 
land,  and  not  likely  to  be  deceived  by  the  water 
standing  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  where  the 
nature  of  the  vegetation  shows  the  soil  cannot  be 
marshy  or  sterile.  A  few  instances  have  been 
found  in  our  Territorial  and  State  experiences, 
where  surveyors  made  imaginary  sketches  of  large 
tracts,  and  returned  them  *as  actual  surveys,  when 


Chap.  XIII. J  DISHONEST  SURVEYS.  381 

they  had  never  visited  the  places.  That  trick  was 
of  later  invention.  It  may  be  that  the  surveyors 
did  not  desire  to  run  lines  which  bordered  on  the 
Potawatamie  country,  for  fear  of  personal  risks, 
which  were  certainly  possible.  But  the  country 
was  not  unknown.  .  It  had  been  traversed  fre- 
quently by  traders,  and  others,  and  was,  not  very 
long  before,  frequented  by  buffaloes  in  great 
numbers.  The  fact  that  Michigan  contained  so 
many  Indians  was  proof  that  its  lands  were  good, 
for  they  seldom  congregate  except  in  eligible 
regions.  Mellish  had  published,  a  few  years  before, 
a  very  accurate  general  account  of  the  whole 
Lower  Peninsula,  in  which  the  country  is  as  well 
described  as  it  could  be  in  as  few  words  to-day. 
Some  have  supposed  the  surveyors  were  bribed 
by  those  who  wished  to  prevent  settlements. 
Although  there  were  persons  interested  in  that 
direction,  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  interfered. 
It  is  nevertheless  possible  that  they  either  bribed — 
or  more  probably  adopted  the  cheaper  course  of 
scaring  —  the  surveying  party. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  during  Hull's 
administration  there  were  no  counties  laid  out ; 
and  the  divisions  were  all  into  districts.  General 
Cass,  who  had  much  clearer  notions  about  popu- 
lar institutions,  began  early  to  establish  the 
ordinary  American  divisions.  Wayne  County,  as 
originally  laid  out  in  the  Northwest  Territory, 
was  not  exactly  coincident  with  Michigan  Terri- 
tory,   even  in  its  diminished   proportions.       But   a 


382 


LOCAL   DIVISIONS.  [Chap.  XIII. 


single  county,  covering  the  same  geographical 
extent  with  an  entire  State  or  Territory,  would 
be  an  anomaly,  and  a  county  split  up  into  sever- 
al supreme  judicial  districts,  would  be  more 
anomalous.  Assuming  that  the  surveys  would  be 
made,  and  the  bounty  lands  located,  General  Cass, 
on  the  2 1  st  of  November,  1815,  began  the  county 
system,  by  laying  out  that  part  of  the  Territory  in 
which  the  Indian  title  had  been  extinguished,  into 
Wayne  County,  with  its  seat  of  justice  at  Detroit. 
At  the  same  time  he  divided  the  whole  Territory 
into  road-districts,  coincident  with  the  several 
militia-company  districts,  which  were  already  de- 
fined. No  provision  had  yet  been  made  for 
establishing  townships,  and  until  the  people 
became  indoctrinated  with  ideas  of  self-govern- 
ment, which  the  Ordinance  had  not  assumed  as 
one  of  their  early  prerogatives,  there  was  no 
place  for  these  small  republics. 

In  181 2,  Congress  had  directed  the  President 
to  have  the  northern  boundary  of  Ohio  surveyed, 
in  accordance  with  the  law  authorizing  that  State 
to  form  its  constitution,  "  and  to  cause  to  be 
made  a  plat  or  plan  of  so  much  of  the  boundary 
line  as  runs  from  the  southerly  extreme  of  Lake 
Michigan  to  Lake  Erie,  particularly  noting  .  the 
place  where  the  said  line  intersects  the  margin 
of  said  lake."  {Act  of  May  20,  18 12.)  The  war 
interrupted  this,  and  it  was  not  surveyed  until 
some  years  thereafter.  Meanwhile  Indiana  had 
obtained  a  population    large    enough    to    entitle    it 


Chap.  XIII.]  INDIANA  AND   ILLINOIS.  383 

to  admission  into  the  Union.  On  the  19th  of 
April,  1 81 6,  the  people  of  that  Territory  were 
authorized  to  form  a  State;  and  its  boundaries, 
instead  of  being  left  as  they  were  when  Michigan 
was  set  off,  were  fixed  on  the  north  by  an  east 
and  west  line  ten  miles  north  of  the  southern 
point  of  Lake  Michigan,  thus  taking  a  strip  ten 
miles  wide  off  from  the  southern  portion  of  Mich- 
igan Territory.  As  our  people  had  then  no 
representatives,  and  there  was  no  public  journal 
in  the  Territory,  this  encroachment  necessarily 
remained  for  future  settlement.  The  State  was 
admitted  December  11,  181 6.  On  the  18th  of 
April,  1 81 8,  Illinois  was  authorized  to  form  a  con- 
stitution, and  its  boundary  was  continued  north- 
ward beyond  that  of  Indiana,  to  latitude  42 °  30', 
to  that  extent  curtailing  the  future  State  of  Wis- 
consin. Illinois  was  admitted  on  the  3d  day  of 
December,  181 8.  All  of  the  old  Northwest  Terri- 
tory north  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  was  from  this 
time  made  a  part  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  181 7,  the  County  of 
Monroe  was  established.  In  the  previous  month 
provision  had  been  made-  for  the  erection  of  a 
jail  at  Mackinaw  for  the  use  of  a  future  county. 
The  immediate  occasion  for  the  organization  of 
Monroe  County  was  probably  the  expected  visit 
of  President  James  Monroe,  who  had  then  started 
out  on  his  tour  through  the  Northern  States. 
He  arrived  at  Detroit  about  the  middle  of  August, 
accompanied  by  several  distinguished  officers.     On 


384 


PRESIDENT  MONROE      FINANCES.  [Chap.  XIII. 


the  14th  he  reviewed  the  troops.  On  that  occasion 
Governor  Cass,  on  behalf  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  presented  to  General  Alexander  Macomb, 
a  magnificent  sword,  in  honor  of  his  conduct  at 
the  Battle  of  Plattsburgh.  Generals  Brown  and 
Wool  were  present,  and  probably  General  McNeil, 
as  he  went  north  soon  after.  The  Detroit  Gazette, 
the  first  regular  newspaper  of  any  permanence 
established  at  Detroit,  made  its  appearance  at  this 
period.  It  was  conducted  by  John  P.  Sheldon  and 
Ebenezer  Reed,  and  was  an  able  but  very  caustic 
and  personal  journal. 

The  financial  affairs  of  the  Territory  were  not 
satisfactory.  The  currency  chiefly  in  vogue  was 
Ohio  paper,  (which  was  becoming  of  very  poor 
credit,)  and  private  bills  or  shinplasters,  which 
very  soon  became  much  more  abundant  than  the 
prosperity  of  the  country  required.  In  parts  where 
the  press  had  not  penetrated,  business  was  carried 
on  upon  the  system  of  barter,  or  "  dicker"  as  it 
was  then  called,  and  occasionally  specific  articles 
became  practically  legal  tenders.  Among  other 
things  it  is  related  that  in  one  community  nests 
of  wooden  bowls  beca'me  current  for  small  change, 
as  shingles  were  subsequently  in  the  pine  country. 
There  were  financiers,  nevertheless,  who  understood 
their  position ;  and  it  is  related  of  one  shrewd 
gentleman  that,  being  in  an  adjoining  State  where 
he  was  personally  unknown,  and  where  some  of 
his  shinplasters  circulated,  he  took  part  in  the 
abuse  lavished  on  them,  and  induced  some  of  his 


Chap.  X1II.1  CATHOLEPISTEMIAD. 


385 


traducers  to  join  with  him  in  manifesting  contempt 
for  such  trash,  by  burning  it; — he  setting  the 
example,  by  throwing  a  large  parcel  into  the 
Barnes. 

In  the  prospect  of  a  future  growth  in  popu- 
lation, it  was  deemed  proper  to  organize  the 
University,  for  which  provision  had  been  made 
several  years  before.  On  the  26th  day  of  August, 
1817,  just  after  Monroe  and  Cass  had  departed 
southward,  an  act  was  passed  to  incorporate  the 
Catholepistemiad  or  University  of  Michigania. 
This  institution,  which  was  identical  in  law  with 
the  present  University,  contained  thirteen  didaxiae 
or  professorships,  which  were  /sufficiently  compre- 
hensive. These  were  to  embrace  (1)  catkole- 
pistemia,  or  universal  science,  the  incumbent  of  this 
chair  being  President;  (2)  anthropoglossica  or 
language,  embracing  all  sciences  relating  thereto  ; 
(3)  mathematics ;  (4)  physiognostica,  or  natural 
history ;  (5)  physiosophica,  or  natural  philosophy ; 
(6)  astronomy ;  (7)  chemistry ;  (8)  iatrica  or 
medical  sciences ;  (9)  oeconomia,  or  economical 
sciences;  (10)  ethics;  (11)  polemitactica,  or  military 
sciences;  (12)  diegetica  or  historical  sciences  ;  (13) 
ennoeica  or  intellectual  sciences,  embracing  all  the 
epi sternum  or  sciences  relative  to  the  minds  of 
animals,  to  the  human  mind,  to  spiritual  existence, 
to  the  Deity,  and  to  religion,  —  the  Didactor  or 
professor  of  this  being  Vice  President.  The 
didactors  or  professors  were  to  be  appointed  and 
commissioned  by  the  Governor,  —  each  might  hold 
25 


386  CATHOLEPISTEMIAD  [Chap.  XIII 

more  than  one  chair,  and  their  salaries  were  pay- 
able out  of  the  public  treasury,  the  taxes  being 
increased  15  per  cent,  for  that  purpose.  The 
united  faculty  formed  the  corporation,  with  power 
not  only  to  regulate  its  concerns,  but  to  establish 
colleges,  academies,  schools,  libraries,  museums, 
athenaeums,  botanic,  gardens,  •  laboratories,  and 
other  useful  literary  and  scientific  institutions  con- 
sonant to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  of  America 
and  of  Michigan ;  and  to  appoint  teachers  through- 
out the  counties,  cities,  towns,  townships,  and  other 
geographical  divisions  of  Michigan.  These  sub- 
ordinate instructors  and  instructrixes  were  also  to 
be  paid  from  the  treasury.  Four  lotteries  were 
authorized  to  raise  funds.  The  students'  fees  were 
not  to  exceed  fifteen  dollars  a  quarter  for  lectures, 
ten  dollars  for  classical,  and  six  for  ordinary  in- 
struction ;  and  the  expense  for  poor  students  was 
to  come  from  the  treasury.  On  the  same  day 
the  salaries  of  the  professors  were  fixed  at  twelve 
dollars  and  a  half,  instructors  twenty-five  dollars, 
President  twenty-five,  and  Vice  President  eighteen 
dollars.  Appropriations  were  made  at  the  same 
time  to  pay  all  of  these,  and  a  further  sum  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  dollars,  to  apply  on  lots  and 
building.  A  gift  of  two  hundred  dollars  more  was 
made  a  few  weeks  later  towards  enclosing  the 
building. 

This  plan  was  adopted  in  view  of  movements 
already  begun,  and  it  went  at  once  into  opera- 
tion.      Rev.    John     Monteith    and     Rev.     Gabriel 


Chap.  XIIl.j  DONATIONS. 


387 


Richard  were  appointed  to  the  various  professor- 
ships, and  they  forthwith  established  primary 
schools  in  Detroit,  Monroe  and  Mackinaw,  and  a 
classical  academy  and  college  in  Detroit. 

%  On  the  29th  of  September,  181 7,  a  treaty  was 
made  at  Fort  Meigs,  between  Generals  McArthur 
and  Cass  and  the  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Potawat- 
amies,  Wyandots,  Shawanoes,  Delawares  and 
Senecas ;  whereby  the  Chippewas,  Ottawas  and 
Potawatamies,  in  view  of  their  attachment  to  that 
church,  and  their  desire  to  have  their  children 
educated,  gave  to  St.  Anne's  Church,  Detroit,  and 
to  the  College  of  Detroit,  each  an  undivided  half 
of  six  sections  reserved  to  those  nations  by  Hull's 
treaty  of  1807,  —  three  of  the  sections  being  on  the 
Macon  Reserve  on  the  River  Raisin,  and  the  re- 
mainder to  be  selected  thereafter.  There  were 
also  many  private  gifts  and  subscriptions  to  estab- 
lish the  Detroit  schools  and  College.  One  thou- 
sand pounds  ($2,500)  was  subscribed  in  a  single 
day  in  aid  of  the  building.  Probably  the  same 
liberality  prevailed  in  the  other  towns.  From  that 
time  on  Detroit  never  lacked  good  schools.  The 
first  University  building  was  of  brick,  twenty-four 
feet  by  fifty.  It  was  used  for  school  purposes 
more  than  forty  years. 

The  pedantry  of  this  act,  which  was  drawn  by 
Judge  Woodward,  and  his  selection  of  phrases 
which  are  neither  Greek,  Latin  nor  English,  led 
to  much  ridicule.  But  the  scheme  itself  was 
approved,    and    carried    out.       It    is  by  no    means 


388  UNIVERSITY.      NEW  COUNTIES.  [CHAr.  XIII. 

likely  that  he  did  very  much  more  than  put  in 
this  questionable  shape  a  plan  already  agreed  on. 
The  other  members  of  the  Legislative  Board  were 
as  well  educated  as  himself,  and  as  zealous  in  the 
interests  of  education.  In  many  respects  it  is  an* 
admirable  system,  but  it  was  found  afterwards 
that  it  lacked  accuracy  and  completeness,  and  was 
not  by  any  means  perfect.  When  the  Territorial 
statutes  underwent  a  general  revision  in  1 820-1, 
this  was  replaced  by  a  less  pretentious  act,  and 
it  was  never  published  by  the  Governor  and 
Judges  except  in  the  newspapers. 

In  considering  the  plan  of  the  Catholepistemiad, 
the  suspicion  naturally  arises  that  in  providing  for 
a  chair  of  catholepistemia,  or  universal  science, 
the  worthy  Chief  Justice  may  perhaps  in  his 
mind's  eye  have  seen  a  new  Bacon  in  the  in- 
cumbent, who  would  vary  his  judicial  pursuits  by 
devising  a  newer  Organon,  and  discourse  to  in- 
genuous youth  de  omnibus  rebus  et  quibusdam  alus. 
But  Dis  aliter  visum.  The  Governor  lacked  ap- 
preciation, and  another  received  the  office. 

The  land  surveys  had  made  such  progress 
that  sales  were  ordered  in  the  fall  of  1818.  All 
the  country  to  which  the  Indian  title  had  been 
ceded,  or  which  contained  settlements,  was  laid 
out  into  counties.  Macomb  County  was  established 
January  15th,  181 8,  and  Michilimackinac,  Brown 
and  Crawford,  on  the  26th  of  October,  1818. 
Brown  County  took  in  the  eastern  part  of  Wis- 
consin, with  its  county  seat  near  the  mouth  of  Fox 


Chap.  XIII.  j  COUNTY  AFFAIRS.      PROSPERITY.  389 

River ;  and  Crawford  County  the  western  part, 
with  its  county  seat  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1818,  the  duties  of  man- 
aging county  affairs  were  tranferred  to  county  com- 
missioners, three  of  whom  were  to  be  appointed 
in  each  county  by  the  Governor. 

The  Territory  was  now  in  a  very  fair  way  of 
growing.  There  were  very  few  roads  as  yet,  and 
facilities  for  land  travel  did  not  abound  for  many 
years.  But  the  business  of  Detroit  was  flourish- 
ing, and  the  country,  in  spite  of  the  report  of  the 
surveyors,  was  believed  to  be  worth  seeking.  The 
lakes  were  not  yet  much  navigated,  and  all  trav- 
ellers by  water  were  obliged  to  take  advantage 
of  occasional  schooners,  of  small  capacity.  Never- 
theless, the  sums  received  in  i8i7forthe  carriage 
of  passengers  over  Lake  Erie  to  Detroit  amounted 
to  $15,000.  This  indicates  a  good  business.  The 
military  road  had  been  finished  about  ten  miles 
beyond  Monroe,  and  some  travel  came  over  that. 
In  1818  the  exports  of  fish  and  cider  amounted 
to  $60,000. 

The  ponies  which  abounded  in  the  woods,  were 
very  serviceable  for  travelling  through  the  country 
upon  the  trails.  These  tough  and  sagacious  ani- 
mals ran  at  large,  and  droves  of  them,  branded, 
usually,  with  the  name  of  some  owner  or  reputed 
owner,  were  to  be  met  everywhere  near  the  set- 
tlements. When  the  seasons  were  dry,  they  would 
come  in  to  the  streams  for  water  in  large  troops, 
and    sometimes    in    the    night    they    would    gallop 


390  WILD   MORSES.     PACKING.  FChap.  XIII. 

through  the  streets  with  a  great  clatter,  but  doing 
no  harm  unless  where  salt  barrels  were  left  ex- 
posed, when  they  would  break  them  in  to  get  at 
the  salt.  On  a  journey  they  were  usually  span- 
celled  with  a  strap,  or  fettered,  at  night,  and  the 
bell  which  each  one  wore  was  freed  from  the  straw 
which  had  bound  the  clapper  through  the  day. 
They  rarely  strayed  far  from  a  camp.  They  lived 
on  what  they  picked  up  on  the  road,  and  were 
very  free  from  the  diseases  which  attack  animals 
more  tenderly  raised. 

In  March,  1818,  shoes  were  sent  up  from  Detroit 
to  Green  Bay  for  the  troops,  by  pack-horses. 
That  town  had  been  garrisoned  in  September, 
181 7,  and  the  American  jurisdiction  had  never  be- 
fore been  exercised  there  effectually,  unless  by 
Judge  Reaume,  whose  authority  seems  to  have 
belonged  to  universal  jurisprudence.  The  use  of 
pack-animals  instead  of  vessels,  shows  the  limited 
extent  of  water  carriage.  The  abundance  of 
horses,  and  the  small  expense  of  their  sustenance, 
made  this  less  costly  than  might  be  supposed. 
The  winter  carriage  in  the  upper  country  was  for 
many  years  conducted  by  dogs,  and  people  were 
very  expert  in  devising  contrivances  for  their 
animals.  The  pack-saddle  was  made  of  light 
wood,  so  padded  and  shaped  as  not  to  gall  the 
horse's  back  or  shoulders,  and  everything  was  dis- 
pensed with  which  could  be  spared.  It  is  not  very 
many  years  since  Indian  cavalcades  of  these  pack- 
horses    were    not    unfrequently    met    in  the  forest, 


Chap.  XIII.]  WAYS   OF  TRAVELLERS.  391 

carrying  the  tent-poles  and  other  movables  of  the 
wigwam,  and  the  utensils  of  all  sorts  belonging  to 
the  household,  with  more  or  less  of  the  members 
of  the  family  perched  on  the  pack-saddle,  or 
peering  out  from  the  loading. 

On  these  journeys,  travellers,  of  whatever  rank, 
were  compelled  to  take  such  provisions  as  were 
least  burdensome.  Hulled  corn  was  one  of  the 
staples,  and  this,  with  a  modicum  of  fat  meat  or 
tallow,  was  the  chief  reliance  of  voyageurs  and 
engages.  Maple  sugar  was  largely  used  with  the 
corn.  Such  game,  fish,  fruit,  or  other  articles  as 
were  found  along  the  road,  were  welcome  additions 
to  the  frugal  meal.  A  common  form  of  condensed 
food  was  called  praline,  composed  of  parched  corn, 
pounded  fine  and  mixed  with  maple  sugar.  Corn 
was  also  used  by  the  French  and  Indians  in  the 
form  of  a  soup  or  broth  called  medaminabo.  All 
wise  travellers  who  could  afford  it  took  along  a 
generous  supply  of  tea,  and  after  their  evening 
meal  and  copious  draughts  from  their  tin  cups, 
they  rolled  themselves  up  in  their  blankets,  with 
a  saddle  or  log  for  their  pillow,  and  slept  soundly 
with  no  other  shelter. 

The  population  had  now  reached  the  number 
authorized  under  the  Ordinance  to  form  a  repre- 
sentative government.  It  having  been  submitted 
to  a  popular  vote  in  the  spring  of  1818,  whether 
this  step  should  be  taken,  it  was  voted  down  by 
a  large  majority.  It  is  difficult  for  us,  who  have 
been  educated  under  a  system  of  self-government 


392  POPULAR   GOVERNMENT   REJECTED.  [Chap.  Xlll. 

to  comprehend  the  feelings  of  those  who  have 
been  brought  up  under  a  paternal  government. 
The  brief  period  of  representation  in  the  Assem- 
bly of  the  Northwest  Territory  had  not  habituated 
the  French  settlers  to  our  notions,  and  the  absence 
of  any  local  system  in  township  and  county  ad- 
ministration left  them  entirely  ignorant  of  its  ad- 
vantages. Those  who  reached  middle  age  before 
the  people  in  the  Territory  became  entitled  to 
vote  for  their  own  officers,  were  not  always  pleased 
with  the  change,  and  some  of  them,  who  survived 
to  a  very  recent  period,  never  ceased  to  sigh  for 
the  good  old  days,  when  the  commanding  officer 
was  the  whole  government. 

General  Cass  was  in  advance  of  any  states- 
man of  his  time  in  his  ideas  of  popular  inter- 
ference in  the  selection  of  all  grades  of  public 
officers.  There  is  much  difference  of  opinion  now 
concerning  the  policy  of  electing  by  general  vote 
those  officers  whose  functions  are  not  representa- 
tive. He  adhered  to  the  doctrine  with  tenacity, 
that  the  people  should  have  a  direct  voice  in  ap- 
pointments generally ;  and  some  matters  which, 
in  his  subsequent  national  career,  were  occasions 
of  difficulty  and  opposition,  were  the  direct  results 
of  his  consistency  in  his  opinions  on  this  subject. 
A  man  who  occupied  such  offices  as  he  filled  at 
various  times  can  rarely  be  dealt  with  impartially, 
until  the  political  excitements  and  prejudices  of 
the  period  have  been  removed.  But  it  is  due  to 
his    memory    by    all  candid  men,  whether  political 


Chap.  XIII.]  GENERAL  CASS.  393 

•  adherents  or  opponents,  to  admit  that  he  was  not 
only  a  patriotic  and  energetic  officer,  but  above 
all  things  a  sincere  and  devoted  admirer  and  up- 
holder of  America  and  American  institutions. 
When  we  look  at  the  circumstances  attending  the 
early  existence  of  the  Territory,  and  the  difficul- 
ties besetting  its  progress,  the  importance  and 
value  of  his  services  as  Governor  can  hardly  be 
exaggerated. 

The  difficulties  of  the  Legislative  Board  might 
very  well  have  disposed  him  to  desire  a  change 
in  its  composition.  With  too  much  good  humor 
and  good  sense  to  become  involved  in  any  per- 
sonal difficulties,  the  want  of  harmony  between 
his  judicial  associates,  and  the  occasional  present- 
ation, as  an  excerpt  from  the  laws  of  other  States, 
of  such  a  piece  of  language  run  mad  as  the 
charter  of  the  Catholepistemiad,  must  have  been 
sorely  annoying.  That  queer  production  was 
acted  upon  in  his  absence,  though  not  against  his 
wishes.  He  was  prompt  in  aiding  to  endow  the 
University ;  but  the  two  soldiers  who  negotiated 
the  Treaty  of  Fort  Meigs  had  some  respect  for 
good  English,  and  named  their  beneficiary  the 
College  of  Detroit.  It  would  have  tried  the  skill 
of  some  of  the  interpreters  to  turn  that  mixture 
of  jargons  into  the  dialects  of  the  woods. 

In  March,  1818,  the  people  were  called  upon 
to  perform  another  solemn  duty.  It  had  been  a 
matter  of  much  difficulty  to  identify  or  bury  any 
of  the    victims    of  Winchester's    unfortunate  mas- 


39'4  HONORS  TO   CAPTAIN    HART  |Chap.  XIII. 

sacre  at  the  Raisin ;  and,  after  all  their  efforts, 
the  authorities  were  only  able  to  determine  the 
burial  place  of  Captain  Hart.  His  fate  had  been 
singularly  sad,  and  no  one  had  been  more  la- 
mented. He  was  not  singular  in  his  self-devo- 
tion, for  in  that  all  his  companions  were  like  him. 
But  his  admirable  personal  qualities,  and  his 
promise  of  eminence,  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  his  death,  made  his  name  con- 
spicuous. Left  behind  at  Frenchtown  after  the 
British  went  to  Maiden,  and  not  being  sent  for 
by  a  personal  friend  who  had  promised  to  send 
for  him,  and  who  was  under  obligations  for  kind 
care  during  his  own  sickness,  he  was  finally  slain 
while  on  the  road  to  Maiden,  by  reason  of  a 
dispute  between  his  guides.  When  it  became 
practicable  to  perform  the  last  honors  to  his  mem- 
ory, a  meeting  wras  called,  at  which  the  Governor 
presided,  and  preparations  were  made  for  his  re- 
interment at  Detroit,  with  all  due  solemnity.  A 
committee  of  the  principal  citizens  made  the 
necessary  preparations,  and  on  the  17th  of  March 
his  funeral  rites  were  celebrated,  with  all  the 
tokens  of  respect  and  sorrow  which  were  due  to 
him,  not  only  for  his  own  sake,  but  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  noble  dead  whose  lives  had  been 
spent  for  the  people  who  now  mourned  him. 

The  27th  day  of  August,  181 8,  was  a  day  long 
remembered  in  Detroit.  On  that  day  the  first 
steamboat  made  its  appearance  on  the  Strait.  The 
steamboat     Walk-in-the-Water,      (whether     named 


Chap.  XIII.]  THE  FIRST  STEAMBOAT.  395 

from  the  Wyandot  chief,  or  for  her  own  qualities, 
is  uncertain,)  arrived  on  that  day  from  Buffalo, 
with  a  large  load  of  passengers.  She  was  built 
at  Black  Rock,  and  when  completed  was  taken 
up  to  Buffalo  against  the  strong  current,  not  by 
her  own  motive  power,  which  had  not  yet  been 
tried,  but  by  what  Commodore  Blake  facetiously 
called  the  "  horned  breeze,"  several  yokes  of 
strong  oxen  towing  her  up  safely.1 

The  Indians  had  received  early  intelligence 
that  a  great  ship  drawn  by  sturgeons  was  to 
make  its  appearance  in  the  Detroit  River,  and 
when  the  steamer  glided  up  the  stream  without 
any  visible  means  of  progress,  the  red  men 
swarmed  along  the  shore  and  filled  the  air  with 
their  noisy  shouts  of  wonder. 

Henceforth  the  way  was  clear  for  the  west- 
ward-bound pioneers.  The  land  was  put  in  mar- 
ket that  season,  and  purchases  were  made  of  con- 
siderable amounts  by  actual  settlers.  The  weekly 
trips  of  the  steamboat  brought  up  full  loads  of 
passengers,  on  some  occasions  as  many  as  a  hun- 
dred. The  steamers  were  then  considered  large 
which    to-day    would    appear    too    small    for    even 

1  General  Whiting,  in  a.  j'eu  d1  esprit  entitled  "The  Age  of  Steam," 
read  at  a  Fourth  of  July  steamboat  ride,  in   1S30,  refers  to  this: 

"  And  where  was  e'er  the  modern  wight, 
Who,  though  possessed  of  second  sight, 
Twice  eight  years  since  could  see  a  boat 
Within  the  shadowy  future  float? 
Or  see  one  lying  at  Black  Rock, 
(For  Buffalo  then  had  no  dock,) 
Compelled  to  lay  the  Straits  below, 
T'M  'horn-breeze'  or  a  storm  should  blow." 


396  IMMIGRATION.      SVMMES'S   HOLE.  TChap.  XIII. 

rough  river  service,  and  would  seem  insignificant 
beside  the  smallest  lake  boats.  The  Erie  canal 
was  not  yet  built,  and  those  who  embarked  at 
Buffalo  had  traversed  a  long  road  in  wagons  or 
on  foot.  Many,  too,  landed  in  Ohio,  whence  very 
few  passengers  then  came  across  the  lake  to  De- 
troit. The  suddenness  and  magnitude  of  the  first 
general  movement  towards  Michigan  was  a  sur- 
prising evidence  of  the  restless  energy  of  the 
American  people.  Very  little  foreign  population 
came  in  those  days  across  the  lake.  Most  of  the 
settlers  were  natives  of  New  York  or  New  Eng- 
land. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  Captain  John  Cleves 
Symmes  propounded  his  theory  of  a  pleasant  and 
habitable  region  within  the  earth,  accessible  from 
a  large  opening  near  the  Arctic  Circle,  and  pro- 
posed to  organize  a  party  to  explore  and  possess 
it.  As  he  was  once  familiarly  known  in  the  North- 
west Territory  and  Detroit,  this  important  incident 
should  not  be  overlooked.  For  some  reason 
"  Symmes's  Hole"  did  not  divert  emigration  from 
the  better  known  western  country. 

The  first  permanent  Protestant  church  in  the 
Territory  was  organized  at  Detroit  in  1818,  and 
called  the  "  First  Protestant  Society."  Its  member- 
ship was  made  up  of  persons  belonging  to  several 
.bodies  of  Christians,  and  it  was  not  denominational 
in  its  form,  so  that  ministers  of  various  opinions 
officiated  at  different  periods.  Mr.  Monteith  was 
the    first    settled    pastor.       Before  that  time    there 


Chap.  XIII.]  CHURCHES.     INDIAN    TREATIES.  397 

had  been  occasional  services  of  different  churches, 
and  the  Society  which  finally  became  incorporated 
had  been  informally  organized  in  1816.  Methodist 
clergy  had  visited  Detroit  earlier,  and  perhaps 
some  others,  but  no  societies  had  been  formed. 
Episcopal  services  had  been  held  by  lay-reading, 
at  which  Dr.  William  McDowell  Scott  generally 
officiated  as  reader;  and  the  Reverend  Richard 
Pollard  of  Sandwich,  very  soon  after  the  American 
possession,  performed  clerical  duties  in  baptisms, 
marriages,  and  burials,  among  the  members  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  others  who  desired  his 
services.  In  1822,  the  Methodist  church  became 
incorporated.  In  1824,  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church 
was  organized.  Other  churches  followed,  and  the 
First  Protestant  Society  became  a  Presbyterian 
church,  and  is  still  existing  as  such. 

In  September,  18 18,  the  Wyandots  exchanged 
their  reserves  at  Brownstown  and  Monguagon  for 
one  further  back  on  the  Huron  River,  where* they 
remained  several  years.  In  1819,  a  treaty  was 
held  at  Saginaw,  whereby  the  country  from  near 
Kalamazoo  to  the  head  of  Thunder  Bay  River 
was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  except  a  number 
of  special  reservations,  partly  for  individuals  and 
partly  for  bands  or  villages.  In  June  and  July, 
1820,  sixteen  square  miles  were  ceded  at  the  Sault 
Ste  Marie,  as  well  as  the  St.  Martin  Islands  in 
Lake  Huron,  containing  gypsum.  In  1821,  a 
cession  was  obtained  of  all  the  land  south  of 
Grand  River  and  north  of  St.  Joseph's  River,  and 


398  DELEGATES  TO  CONGRESS.  [Chap.  XIII. 

other  lands,  whereby,  except  for  a  small  tract  south 
of  the  St.  Joseph,  and  particular  reserves,  there 
remained  no  unceded  land  in  the  Lower  Peninsula, 
except  north  of  Grand  River,  and  north  and  west 
of  the  head  of  Thunder  Bay  River.  The  necessities 
of  the  people  were  provided  for,  as  far  as  would 
be  required  for  a  long  time. 

The  election  of  a  delegate  to  Congress  was, 
by  the  original  ordinance,  to  follow  the  legislative 
organization,  and  not  to  precede  it.  But  inasmuch 
as  the  population  was  large  enough  to  warrant  it, 
Congress,  in  the  Spring  of  1819,  provided  that 
the  citizens  of  Michigan  might  elect  a  delegate,  by 
a  plurality  vote  of  the  free  white  male  citizens 
over  the  age  of  21,  who  had  resided  in  the 
Territory  one  year  and  paid  a  county  or  Terri- 
torial tax.  The  first  delegate  chosen  was  William 
Woodbridge,  Secretary  of  the  Territory ;  (who 
seems  to  have  retained  his  Territorial  office,  but 
who  soon  resigned  the  other ;)  and  Solomon  Sibley 
was  chosen  in  his  place  in  1820.  Judge  Sibley 
held  the  office  until  1823,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  the  Reverend  Gabriel  Richard,  Rector  of  St. 
Anne's  Catholic  Church.  It  is  not  often  that  a 
gentleman  of  his  profession  has  appeared  in 
Congress.  He  was  a  faithful  and  diligent  repre- 
sentative, and  performed  his  duties  to  the  gene- 
ral satisfaction.  This  being  the  only  elective 
office  of  the  Territory,  and  there  being  no  scope 
for  the  ordinary  political  struggles,  there  was 
generally  a  good    deal  of   excitement  and  contro- 


Chap.  XIII.]  EXCITING   ELECTIONS.  399 

versy,  which  was  at  first  rather  personal  than  po- 
litical. But  the  candidates  were  all  usually  well 
qualified,  and  any  of  them  would  have  done  suffi- 
cient credit  to  his  constituents.  Father  Richard's 
antagonist  in  1823  was  General  John  R.  Williartfs. 
Austin  E.  Wing,  Major  John  Biddle,  Lucius  Lyon, 
and  George  W.  Jones,  were  at  different  periods 
incumbents  of  this  office.  In  1827,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Territory,  Mr.  Woodbridge,  and  Robert  Ab- 
bott, Treasurer,  in  canvassing  the  Inspectors'  re- 
turns, undertook  to  anticipate  the  prerogatives  of 
Congress,  and  to  discuss  and  determine  upon  the 
validity  and  regularity  of  the  election,  and  of 
votes  cast  in  various  places,  and  gave  Mr.  Wing 
the  certificate  by  the  result  of  this  process.  The 
Legislative  Council  appointed  a  committee  to  in- 
vestigate the  matter,  who  animadverted  severely 
on  the  excess  of  jurisdiction,  but  questioned  the 
power  of  the  Council  to  deal  adequately  with 
officers  appointed  by  the  United  States.  At  this 
time  there  was  a  violent  personal— rather  than 
strictly  party — feeling  arising,  which  had  been  bit- 
ter during  the  election,  and  which  was  probably 
for  a  few  years  extreme  in  proportion  to  the 
small  field  open  to  its  operation,  and  the  absence 
of  well-defined  party  issues.  It  was  afterwards 
in  other  ways  not  without  serious  mischiefs,  which 
cannot  be  discussed  or  understood  now  as 
fully  as  might,  on  some  accounts,  be  desirable. 
There  are  still  living  many  persons  interested  in 
the  contest,  and  more  or  less  affected  by  its  pas- 
sions and  prejudices. 


400  BANK.     EXPLORING  EXPEDITION.  [Chap.  XIII 

In  1819  the  Bank  of  Michigan  was  organized, 
which,  during  its  many  years'  existence,  was  a  very 
important  instrument  in  the  financial  affairs  of 
the  country.  Its  organization  gave  rise  to  a  suit 
to  determine  what  power  the  Territory  had  to 
charter  private  corporations ;  but  the  courts  never 
felt  any  serious  difficulty  in  determining  that  ter- 
ritories have  the  same  need  of  the  instrumentali- 
ties of  business  as  States,  and  have  authority  to 
avail  themselves  of,  and  secure  to  their  people, 
all  the  means  required  to  further  the  wants  of 
civilization. 

In  the  summer  of  1819  the  Walk-in-the-Water 
made  the  first  steam  voyage  to  Mackinaw,  with  a 
large  load  of  passengers  and  freight,  making  the 
round  trip  from  Buffalo  and  back  in  twelve  days. 
Its  cargo  was  reckoned  worth  $200,000.  At  this 
time  there  were  no  post  roads  in  the  Territory — 
the  first  one  having  been  established  in  1820,  to 
Pontiac  and  Mount  Clemens. 

In  1820  Governor  Cass  organized  an  expedi- 
tion to  explore  the  country  through  the  upper 
lakes  to  the  head  of  the  Mississippi.  This  explora- 
tion had  important  results,  and  was  of  scientific 
as  well  as  political  value.  The  population,  al- 
though increasing  fast  in  the  last  two  or  three 
years,  had  only  reached  8,765,  and  it  was  thought 
desirable  to  take  all  practicable  measures  to  ob- 
tain and  publish  a  knowledge  of  the  country  and 
its  resources,  to  invite  settlements. 


Chap.  XIII.]       CASS'S  FIRST  NORTHERN  EXPEDITION. 


401 


The  expedition  left  Detroit  on  the  24th  of  May, 
1820.  Its  members  were  Governor  Cass,  Dr. 
Alexander  Wolcott  physician,  Captain  D.  B.  Doug- 
lass engineer,  Lieutenant  Aeneas  Mackay  command- 
ing the  soldiers,  James  Duane  Doty  secretary  "to 
the  expedition,  Major  Robert  A.  Forsyth  Gover- 
nor's secretary,  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  geologist 
and  topographer,  Charles  C.  Trowbridge  assistant 
topographer,  and  Alexander  R.  Chace. 

They  performed  their  journey  in  bark  canoes, 
of  the  size  and  pattern  used  in  the  fur  trade, 
where  for  more  than  a  century  the  burden  had 
been  fixed  at  four  tons,  and  the  size  a  little  over 
five  fathoms  and  a  half  in  length  by  one  in 
breadth.  These  light  craft  were  proved  by  expe- 
rience to  be  superior  to  all  others  for  exploring 
purposes.  At  Mackinaw  they  divided  the  com- 
pany and  the  freight  among  four  such  canoes,  and 
took  besides  a  twelve-oared  barge  with  an  addi- 
tional escort,  to  the  Sault,  where  the  Indians  were 
reported  unfriendly.  The  British  at  this  time  had 
fortified  Drummond's  Island,  which  was  then  dis- 
puted territory,  and  had  made  it  the  centre  of 
their  dealings  with  the  Indians,  in  the  United 
States  as  well  as  in  Canada.  In  181 6,  imrnedi-" 
ately  after  the  war,  Thomas,  the  great  Menominie 
chief,  went  through  Mackinaw,  on  his  way  to  ob- 
tain the  usual  presents  from  the  British,  and  was 
somewhat  surprised  that  Major  Puthuff,  the  com- 
mandant, did  not  treat  him  with  hospitality  after 
he  told  his  errand.  He  returned  to  the  island 
26  ' 


402 


CHIEF  THOMAS.      THE  SAULT.  [Chap.  XIII. 


from  the  Ste.  Marie's  River  very  much  mortified 
by  the  cold  treatment  of  the  British  agents,  who  for 
a  time,  (though  a  very  short  one)  curtailed  or  sus- 
pended their  gifts.  The  proud  spirit  of  the  chief 
was  so  wounded  by  this  that  he  shut  himself  up 
in  his  wigwam  and  drank  himself  to  death.  He 
was  buried  at  Mackinaw  with  much  respect,  as  he 
was  a  very  able  and  high-minded  man,  who  is 
said  to  have  had  a  majestic  presence,  and  a  mag- 
netic influence  over  all  who  met  him.  The  prac- 
tice of  making  presents  was  soon  renewed,  and 
when  Governor  Cass's  party  reached  the  Sault, 
they  found  themselves  among  enemies.  No 
American  possession  had  been  maintained  since 
the  war. 

The  party  arrived  on  the  14th  of  June,  and 
found  that  the  village  on  the  American  side  then 
consisted  of  from  15  to  20  buildings,  occupied  by 
five  or  six  French  and  English  families,  among 
whom  was  the  family  of  John  Johnston,  before 
mentioned  as  having  aided  the  English  during 
the  war.  On  the  other  side,  the  Northwest  Com- 
pany had  a  factory,  and  had  provided  a  system  of 
boat  lockage  in  the  narrow  channel  near  the  Ca- 
nadian shore,  to  accommodate  their  large  business. 
The  savages  were  practically  under  their  control. 
The  American  side  was  occupied  by  the  French 
very  early,  and,  as  previously  mentioned,  had  been 
granted  to  Repentigny,  whose  fort  was  standing 
during  the  Pontiac  war,  but  was  long  since  aban- 
doned. 


Chap.  XIII.]  CASS   REMOVES   BRITISH   FLAG.  403 

One  object  of  this  expedition  was  to  establish 
a  new  fort ;  and  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  hold 
a  council  with  the  Indians,  to  ascertain  and  agree 
upon  the  bounds  of  the  old  concession.  A  coun- 
cil was  held  at  the  Governor's  tent  on  the  it>th. 
The  Indians  were  surly,  and  not  disposed  to  re- 
member that  any  concession  had  ever  been  made  ; 
and  some  of  the  chiefs  intimated  that  they  might 
be  disposed  to  allow  civil  settlements,  but  that  a 
military  post  might  be  subjected  to  annoyance  and 
plunder  by  their  young  men.  The  Governor  an- 
swered this  by  an  emphatic  assurance  that  a  fort 
would  be  placed  there  in  any  event,  whether  they 
agreed  to  it  or  not.  The  council,  in  which  a 
chief  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a  British  briga- 
dier-general was  prominent,  came  to  no  agree- 
ment, and  broke  up  in  some  disorder.  This  chief, 
called  the  "  Count/'  during  his  speech,  planted  his 
war-lance  in  the  ground,  with  furious  gestures, 
and  kicked  away  the  presents  laid  before  him. 
On  leaving  the  council  the  Indians  went  to  their 
own  encampment,  on  an  eminence  where  the  old 
French  fort  had  stood,  500  or  600  yards  off,  and 
hoisted  the  British  flag  in  front  of  the  Count's 
wigwam.  Governor  Cass,  on  discovering  this, 
walked  over,  with  no  escort  but  his  interpreter, 
and  took  down  the  flag  and  carried  it  away,  in- 
forming the  astounded  chief  that  none  but  the 
American  flag  must  be  raised  on  our  territory, 
and  that  if  they  should  again  presume  to  attempt 
such  a  thing  the  United  States  would  put  a  strong 


404  TREATY  AT  THE  SAULT. 


[Chap.  XIII. 


foot  on  their  necks  and  trample  them  out.  This 
boldness  struck  them  dumb  for  a  while,  but  they 
soon  sent  off  their  women  and  children,  and  made 
preparations  for  an  attack.  The  American  force, 
numbering  66  well  armed,  got  ready  to  meet 
them.  The  head  chief,  Shingobawassin,  who  had 
not  been  present  at  the  council,  interposed  and 
brought  the  Indians  to  their  senses,  and  that  same 
day  at  evening  a  treaty  was  signed,  releasing  to 
the  Americans  a  tract  embracing  sixteen  square 
miles.  Neither  the  Count  nor  Shingwauk,  the 
two  noisiest  opponents,  signed  it.  From  this  place 
they  went  by  the  usual  coasting  voyage  along 
the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  crossing  Ke- 
weenaw Point  through  Portage  Lake,  and  across 
the  land  portage,  and  visiting  the  great  copper 
boulder  on  the  Ontonagon  River.  They  went  up 
the  St.  Louis  River  to  a  portage  near  Savannah 
River,  and  down  that  stream,  and  through  Sandy 
Lake,  to  the  Mississippi,  ascending  that  river 
through  Lake  Winnipeg  to  Upper  Red  Cedar  or 
Cassina  Lake.  On  their  return  they  descended 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Dubuque  mines,  and  then 
went  up  to  Green  Bay  by  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox 
Rivers,  and  there  separated.  A  portion  of  the 
company  went  to  Mackinaw,  and  thence  directly 
homeward,  the  remainder  proceeding  to  Chicago, 
whence  General  Cass  returned  overland  to  De- 
troit, the  rest  coasting  along  the  eastern  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan.  The  knowledge  of  the  north- 
west derived  from  this  careful  exploration  was  of 
great  value. 


Chap.  XIII.]  STATUTES. 


405 


It  is  a  very  singular  fact  that  between  1806 
and  1820  no  provision  had  been  made  for  publish- 
ing the  Territorial  Laws,  and  some  of  them  had 
been  lost  and  were  never  found  again.  In  181 6, 
a  meagre  volume  was  printed  in  Detroit,  in  4ype 
hardly  legible,  containing  the  titles  of  some  laws, 
and  abstracts  or  indexes  of  others,  and  a  very  few 
in  full.  This  publication  was  thus  condensed  for 
want  of  means.  In  1820,  Congress  appropriated 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  publication 
of  existing  laws,  and  the  Legislative  Board  com- 
piled and  revised  their  legislation  so  as  to  put  it 
in  a  very  good  form,  and  supply  the  place  of  a 
code.  Some  changes  were  made  at  this  time,  but 
none  requiring  special  notice.  The  compilation 
was  not  perfect,  however,  and  omitted  some  im- 
portant statutes. 

It  was  not  creditable  to  the  Territory  that 
public  whipping  was  allowed  to  be  inflicted  on 
Indians  and  negroes  convicted  of  various  offences, 
and,  by  the  order  of  a  single  justice,  on  disorderly 
persons,  and  those  convicted  of  small  offences. 
The  whipping  post  disgraced  the  Detroit  market 
house  until  1831,  when  this  relic  of  barbarism 
was  forever  removed.  The  not  less  barbarous 
custom  of  selling  the  poor  to  the  lowest  bidder, 
was  also  long  kept  up,  with  the  disgusting  spec- 
tacle of  the  ball-and-chain-gang.  The  legislators 
were,  perhaps,  not  behind  their  time  altogether, 
but  such  exhibitions  were  not  improving. 

Duelling,  challenging,  and  posting,  were  made 
punishable  in   181 5  for    the    first    time.      The    law 


406  BRITISH  SUBSIDIES  TO   INDIANS.  [Chap.  Xlll. 

was  borrowed  from  New  Jersey,  which   had    once 
been  a  great  duelling  ground. 

In  1822,  the  United  States  abolished  its  system 
of  government  trading  houses.  Its  abolition  re- 
moved many  frauds  and  opportunities  of  pecula- 
tion, and  enabled  the  American  fur-traders  to 
compete  with  the  British ;  and  from  that  period 
the  British  influence  over  the  Indians  was  sensibly 
checked.  But  the  Indians  were  nevertheless  kept 
as  far  as  possible  under  their  control,  and  they 
still  retained  a  foothold  on  our  territory.  The 
commissioners  under  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  had 
determined,  in  1822,  that  Drummond's  Island,  at 
the  mouth  of  St.  Mary's  River,  belonged  to  the 
United  States ;  yet  the  British  post  was  complained 
of  in  1826,  as  still  remaining,  and  the  American 
Indians,  to  the  number  of  4,000,  received  presents 
and  annuities  there  during  that  year  for  their 
services  to  Great  Britain  ;  while  at  Maiden,  then 
and  for  many  years  thereafter,  the  same  practice 
prevailed.  The  evils  of  submitting  to  such  a  system 
of  subsidies  are  too  manifest  to  need  pointing  out. 
The  government  was  much  to  blame  for  allowing 
it.  There  are  many  persons  now  living  who  have 
seen  the  fleets  of  the  great  northern  canoes 
lining  our  shore,  and  congregated  savages,  far 
more  numerous  than  the  white  inhabitants,  receiv- 
ing guns,  knives  and  hatchets,  as  well  as  other 
gifts,  from  the  Maiden  agency,  and  indulging  after 
their  reception  in  a  drunken  frolic  in  our  streets. 
It  is  not  to  be  denied,  however,  that  they  left  be- 


Chap.  XIII.]  UNIVERSITY.      NEW  COUNTIES.  407 

hind  them  in  Detroit  a    fair  share    of   their   pres- 
ents. 

In  1 82 1,  among  the  new  laws  contained  in  the 
volume  published  by  the  Board,  was  a  statute  re- 
pealing the  former  University  Act,  and  entrusting 
the  University  and  its  affairs  to  twenty-one  trus- 
tees, the  Governor  being  one  ex-officio.  Their 
powers  were  not  materially  altered,  but  the  Ter- 
ritorial support  was  withdrawn.  The  schools  were 
still  kept  up,  and  a  large  lot  was  soon  thereafter 
conveyed  to  the  institution,  embracing  a  consider- 
able parcel  adjoining  that  already  built  upon. 
This  corporation  continued  as  organized  in  1821, 
until  re-organized  under  the  State  Constitution. 

In  1822  six  new  counties  were  established, — 
Lapeer,  Sanilac,  Saginaw,  Shiawassee,  Washtenaw 
and  Lenawee.  They  were  not  set  apart  as  com- 
pletely organized  counties  for  some  years.  Thence- 
forward occasional  changes  and  additions  were 
made,  the  largest  number  of  counties  at  one  time 
for  many  years  having  been  created  in  1829, 
when  counties  were  named  after  the  President, 
Vice-President  and  Cabinet,  and  General  Cass, 
who  was  not  long  after  made  a  member  of  it. 
As  the  country  opened,  it  became  necessary  to 
divide  it  up  very  much  in  advance  of  dense  set- 
tlements. 

The  situation  of  Mackinaw  and  the  counties  west 
of  Lake  Michigan  was  such  that  the  judicial  sys- 
tem was  found  to  work  very  badly.  They  had 
the    county    courts,  presided    over    by    lay  judges, 


408  JUDICIAL  GRIEVANCES  AT  THE  NORTH.      [Chap.  XIII. 

but  an  appeal  lay  from  these  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  where  a  new  trial  was  had  by  a  jury  as  in 
the  lower  court.  The  Supreme  Court  had  exclu- 
sive jurisdiction  of  large  cases,  of  real  actions,  of 
admiralty  and  other  United  States  business,  and 
of  capital  crimes  ;  and  concurrent  jurisdiction  with 
the  county  courts  of  other  offences.  But  one 
term  of  four  weeks  was  held  each  year,  in  Detroit, 
on  the  third  Monday  of  September.  At  that  time 
navigation  northward  was  in  those  days  closed, 
and  even  if  open  the  hardship  of  bringing  par- 
ties and  witnesses  so  far  was  excessive.  James 
Duane  Doty,  who  had  removed  to  Green  Bay, 
prepared  and  laid  before  Congress  a  full  state- 
ment of  these  grievances.  It  appears  from  his 
showing,  that  the  litigants  were  mostly  private 
traders,  who  were  compelled  to  go  to  the  Indian 
country  in  winter  to  sell  their  goods  to  the  Indi- 
ans, and  buy  furs,  and  that  the  Indian  debtors  had 
a  curious  rule  of  considering  their  debts  paid  by 
a  tender  of  the  proper  amount  of  furs  at  the 
trader's  residence.  If  he  was  absent  or  not  ready 
to  receive  them,  he  was  reasonably  certain  to  lose 
his  demand.  The  only  months  in  which  it  was 
safe  for  a  trader  to  resort  to  the  settlements  were 
May  and  the  summer  months.  He  also  made 
some  remarkable  showings  concerning  the  amount 
of  business  in  that  country.  He  asserts  that  no 
territory  (unless  possibly  Orleans)  had  yielded  so 
large  a  revenue  to  the  United  States  from  duties 
on  imports.     That    in    1807,  the  duties    at    Macki- 


Chap.  XIII.]         NEW  COURT.     LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL.  409 

naw  exceeded  $40,000,  although  afterwards  less, — 
the  decrease  arising  from  some  of  the  importa- 
tions coming  into  New  York,  which  before  were 
made  directly  through  Canada.  In  November, 
1 82 1,  3,000  packs  of  furs  had  been  exported  from 
Mackinaw.  It  appears  from  other  sources  that 
the  sale  of  foreign  goods,  (chiefly  to  the  Indians) 
amounted  in  the  Territory  at  cost  to  about  a 
million  of  dollars  annually. 

Congress,  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  people,  enacted,  in  January,  1823,  that  there 
should  be  a  separate  judge  appointed  to  hold  a 
district  court  in  that  region,  having  all  the  ordi- 
nary jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  and  county 
courts,  subject  to  the  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the 
Supreme  Court  on  writ  of  error,  but  not  other- 
wise. It  was  to  have  full  criminal  powers,  and 
jurisdiction  over  all  offences  and  transactions  con- 
nected with  the  commerce  or  dealings  with  the 
Indians.  Mr.  Doty  was  made  judge  of  the  new 
court. 

The  same  session  of  Congress  adopted  a  fur- 
ther law,  on  the  3rd  of  March,  1823,  completely 
revolutionizing  the  Territorial  government.  The 
legislative  power  was  transferred  to  the  Gover- 
nor and  Council,  composed  of  nine  persons  se- 
lected by  the  President  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate,  out  of  eighteen  elected  by  the  people  of 
the  Territory.  Sessions  were  not  to  exceed  sixty 
days,  and  laws  were  subject  to  Congressional  ab- 
rogation.    The  judges    were    to    have    equity    as 


410  CAPITOL.  [Chap.  XIII. 

well  as  common  law  powers,  and  their  term  of 
office  was  reduced  to  four  years,  instead  of  during 
good  behavior.  The  existing  offices  were  to  be- 
come vacant  on  the  ist  of  February,  1824.  The 
pardoning  power  was  vested  in  the  Governor  for 
all  offences  against  the  Territory,  with  power  of 
reprieving  in  United  States  cases. 

On  the  22nd  of  October,  1823,  the  corner  stone 
was  laid  of  a  building  intended  for  a  court  house, 
and  used  until  1847  as  the  Territorial  and  State 
Capitol.  It  was  a  fine  building  for  that  period, 
and  very  well  built.  The  original  design  had 
been  to  build  it  in  the  Grand  Circus,  the  central 
space  of  Judge  Woodward's  Cobweb,  and  now 
the  finest  public  ground  in  Detroit.  That  spot 
was  then  remote  and  inaccessible,  being  regarded 
as  far  out  in  the  country,  and  in  the  woods.  The 
new  location  was  also  complained  of  as  too  re- 
mote, and  accusations  of  all  sorts  of  interference 
and  corrupting  influences  were  made  against  the 
land  owners  in  the  vicinity,  who  had  secured  the 
capitol  so  near  them,  when  it  was  a  long  and  te- 
dious journey  to  reach  it.  For  many  years  it 
stood  alone  in  the  wilderness,  reached  only  by  a 
narrow  line  of  single  timbers  for  a  walk,  and  too 
far  off  for  any  one  to  resort  to  it  except  under 
dire  necessity.  It  is  now  far  below  the  central 
part  of  Detroit,  and  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
heaviest  business. 

In  the  midst  of  the  tumult  naturally  caused  by 
the    great  political  revolution,  an    amusing   excite- 


Chap.  XIII.]       IRISH  MANUSCRIPT.     JUDICIAL  CHANGES.  411 

ment  arose  concerning  a  mysterious  manuscript 
which  was  found  in  Detroit,  in  some  out  of  the 
way  place.  The  characters  were  fairly  traced  and 
distinct,  but  the  scholars  were  all  perplexed.  It 
resembled  jio  letters  which  any  of  them  had  ever 
seen.  Aid  was  sought  in  various  quarters  in  vain. 
At  last,  however,  it  was  discovered  that  the  hiero- 
glyphics were  Irish. 

The  change  in  the  Territorial  scheme  was 
peculiar.  The  Ordinance  of  1787  had  provided 
for  a  council,  but  only  as  an  upper  house  or 
senate,  and  the  functions  of  the  Michigan  Council 
were  both  legislative  and  executive.  Under  that 
instrument  the  judges  were  always  to  hold  during 
good  behavior.  It  is  evident  that  one  object  of 
the  change  was  to  get  rid  of  some  of  the  judges. 
When  the  appointments  were  made,  Judge  With- 
erell  was  re-appointed,  it  is  said  that  Judge  Griffin 
declined  a  nomination,  and  Judge  Woodward  was 
left  out  altogether.  Judge  Witherell  was  made 
presiding  judge,  and  Solomon  Sibley  and  John 
Hunt  associate  justices.  Both  of  these  gentlemen 
were  members  of  the  Detroit  Bar.  Judge  Hunt 
died  in  1827,  and  the  vacancy  was  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  Henry  Chipman,  who,  although  a 
native  of  Vermont,  had  practised  several  years  in 
South  Carolina,  and  had  recently  removed  to 
Detroit.  He  was  a  lifelong  intimate  friend  and 
admirer  of  James  L.  Petigru  of  South  Carolina, 
whose  fearless  patriotism  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances    has    made    his    memory    honorable. 


412  LEGISLATION.     ERIE  CANAL.  [Chap.  XIII. 

Judge  Chipman  died  but  a  few  years  since,  leav- 
ing a  good  name  and  spotless  reputation.  Judge 
Woodward  was,  soon  after  the  accession  of  Mr. 
Adams,    appointed    one  of  the  Judges  of  Florida. 

The  Council  was  organized  in  June,  1824,  by 
appointing  Abraham  Edwards  President,  and  John 
P.  Sheldon  Clerk.  Its  first  business  being  to  pro- 
vide for  obtaining  the  funds  for  its  own  payment, 
and  for  punishing  all  offences  against  its  dignity, 
it  then  proceeded  to  enact  a  number  of  statutes, 
mostly  of  no  present  interest.  The  Supreme 
Court  was  required  to  hold  sessions  in  several 
places  instead  of  one.  Punishment  by  whipping 
was  only  to  be  ordered  by  two  justices,  but  allowed 
for  additional  offences.  Provision  was  made  for 
an  annual  thanksgiving.  The  name  of  the  Huron 
River  of  Lake  St.  Clair  was  changed  to  Clinton 
River,  to  avoid  confusion,  as  there  was  a  Huron 
River  of  Lake  Erie  in  the  southern  part  of  Wayne 
County.  Most  of  the  laws  were  the  usual  routine 
legislation,  carefully  drawn  and  appropriate. 

The  year  1825  was  one  of  much  interest. 
The  Erie  Canal  made  the  journey  to  the  west 
easy  and  economical,  and  the  country  began  to 
settle  very  fast.  Three  steamers,  the  Superior, 
the  Henry  Clay,  and  the  Pioneer,  were  running 
on  Lake  Erie  before  the  season  was  over,  and  it 
was  estimated  that  they  landed  at  Detroit  300 
passengers  a  week  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
season.  A  second  paper — the  Michigan  Herald — 
was  started  in  Detroit   by    Chipman    &    Seymour, 


Chap.  XIII.]  PROGRESS.  413 

and  a  paper  was  also  printed  in  Monroe.  Six 
hundred  people  attended  a  Fourth  of  July  meeting 
at  Pontiac,  and  Washtenaw  County  contained  three 
thousand  inhabitants.  Tecumseh  was  located  and 
named  this  year.  On  the  25th  of  February,  Con- 
gress adopted  further  legislation  to  popularize  the 
affairs  of  the  Territory.  The  Governor  and 
Council  were  authorized  to  divide  the  Territory 
into  townships  and  incorporate  them,  and  to 
provide  for  the  election  of  township  officers.  All 
county  officers  were  to  be  elected,  except  judges, 
sheriffs,  clerks,  judges  of  probate  and  justices  of 
the  peace.  These  were  excepted  because  their 
functions  were  in  no  sense  representative,  but 
belonged  to  the  administration  of  justice,  which 
was  of  public  and  not  of  local  concern.  Governor 
Cass,  in  his  desire  to  consult  the  popular  wishes, 
overlooked  this  principle,  and  practically  annulled 
the  proviso  in  the  act  of  Congress  which  forbade 
their  election,  by  informing  the  people  of  the 
townships  and  counties  that  he  would  appoint  any 
one  whom  they  elected.  There  is  now  much 
difference  of  opinion  concerning  the  propriety  of 
electing  the  officers  of  justice,  but  at  that  time 
there  was  none,  and  Congress  would  not  have 
sanctioned  it. 

The  number  of  councillors  was  increased  to 
thirteen,  and  an  appeal  was  granted  from  the  Ter- 
ritorial Court  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

In  1825,  Captain  John  Burtis  introduced  upon 
the  river  at  Detroit    a  large  horse-boat,  for  ferri- 


414  INDIAN  CAPTIVES.     TANNER.  [Chap.  XIII. 

age  to  Sandwich,  (now  Windsor),  which  excited 
as  much  curiosity  as  the  first  steamer.  This  en- 
terprising gentleman  a  few  years  later  was  also 
the  first  to  introduce  a  steam  ferry-boat,  named 
the  Argo,  long  famous  in  that  region.  It  was 
composed  of  a  gigantic  dug-out,  decked  over,  and 
propelled  by  an  engine  of  moderate  power,  and 
monopolized  the  business  several  years. 

About  this  time  rumors  were  circulated  that 
several  of  the  captives  taken  at  Frenchtown  were 
still  among  the  Indians.  Governor  Cass  examined 
carefully  into  the  facts,  and  published  a  letter  stat- 
ing that  there  was  no  reason  to  believe  this,  as 
the  captives  were  all  grown  up  and  old  enough 
when  taken  to  know  their  origin,  and  would  have 
been  discovered  long  before  if  living.  He  said 
there  were  no  captives  left  in  the  woods,  who 
were  not  voluntary  associates  of  the  Indians,  and 
that  he  knew  of  but  two  white  men  in  that  con- 
dition— Tanner, x  and  George  Johnston,  both  of 
whom  preferred  it. 

In  1826,  General  Cass  and  Colonel  McKenney 
made  a  tour  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  in 
canoes,  to  make  treaties  with  the  northern  Indi- 
ans, and    to    secure    access    to    the  Lake  Superior 

1  This  Tanner  was  a  somewhat  dangerous  character,  who  lived  in  the 
Lake  Superior  country,  near  the  Sault.  In  1830,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  pass  a  special  act  to  protect  his  daughter,  Martha  Tanner,  from  her 
father,  which  made  it  a  misdemeanor  for  him  to  use  any  but  legal  means 
to  get  her  into  his  control,  against  her  will.  This  is  probably  the  only 
law  ever  passed  which  attached  criminal  consequences  to  injuries  to  a 
single  private  person.  Tanner  was  suspected  of  the  subsequent  murder  of 
James  L.  Schoolcraft,  and  disappeared  at  that  time  from  the  Sault. 


Chap.  XII [.  McKENNEY   EXPEDITION.      ROADS. 


415 


mines.  Colonel  McKenney  published  a  very  en- 
tertaining narrative  of  his  expedition.  On  the  5th 
of  August  they  signed  a  treaty  at  Fond  du  Lac, 
whereby  the  United  States  were  allowed  to  search 
for  and  remove  metals  or  minerals,  but  not  to  gain 
title  to  the  lands.  Annuities  were  given  to  the 
Chippewas  for  support  and  education.  They  came 
back  from  Fond  du  Lac  to  Detroit  by  canoe  in 
twenty-two  days — making  over  fifty  miles  a  day — 
a  very  remarkable  journey. 

An  additional  grant  was  made  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  a  township  of  land,  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1826,  and  the  two  townships  were  allowed  to  be 
selected  in  parcels,  instead  of  in  whole  township 
tracts.  Several  roads  were  also  projected  by 
Congress  in  this  and  subsequent  years,  mostly 
running  from  the  eastern  border  of  the  Territory 
into  the  interior.  The  principal  government  roads 
ran  between  Detroit  and  Maumee,  Fort  Gratiot, 
Saginaw,  Grand  River  and  towards  Chicago.  These 
not  only  opened  the  country  but  drew  in  many 
laborers  and  contractors,  who  became  valuable 
citizens.  The  completion  of  the  first  locomotive 
in  America  at  Hoboken,  by^  Mr.  Stevens,  is  an 
event  of  this  period  concerning  Michigan  as  well 
as  the  rest  of  the  country. 

The  fort  at  Detroit  was  left  without  troops, 
and  in  the  next  year  (1827)  was  discontinued  as 
a  fortified  post.  Some  apprehensions  were  felt 
about  the  Indians,  but  they  were  groundless.  No 
disturbance    occurred    afterwards    which    the  local 


416 


FORT  ABANDONED.      K1SHKAUKON.      CHANGES.      [Chap.  XIII. 


authorities  could  not  put  down.  The  militia  were 
still  kept  in  tolerable  training,  and  had  officers 
who  had  seen  service.  There  were  also  some 
well  drilled  bodies  of  uniformed  volunteers.  After 
the  policy  was  definitely  adopted  of  discontinuing 
the  military  occupation,  the  large  military  reserve 
was  relinquished  to  the  City  of  Detroit,  and  laid 
out  into  city  lots,  on  a  rectangular  plan,  and  not 
according  to  Woodward's  scheme. 

The  principal  local  excitement  was  the  arrest 
and  imprisonment,  in  1826,  of  Kishkaukon,  the 
turbulent  Saginaw  chief,  who  aided  and  abetted 
Big  Beaver  in  the  murder  of  another  chief,  Wa- 
wasson,  at  Detroit.  Kishkaukon  was  furnished 
with  poison  by  one  of  his  wives,  and  thus  evaded 
punishment. 

This  year  seven  steamers  ran  between  Buffalo 
and  Detroit.  The  exports  of  whitefish  began  to 
be  large,  as  well  as  of  cider  and  apples.  It  is 
also  noted  that  in  the  winter  oysters  were  brought 
to  Detroit,  "  in  good  condition,"  and  oyster  cel- 
lars became  among  the  institutions  of  the  city. 

In  1827,  Congress  allowred  the  people  to  choose 
thirteen  Councilmen  for  themselves,  instead  of  re- 
porting twenty-six  to  the  President  and  Senate 
for  selection.  The  Council  abolished  the  county 
commissioner  system  for  a  board  of  supervisors, 
and  required  every  township  to  support  schools, 
either  English,  or  English  and  classical,  according 
to  population.  This  severed  the  schools  from  the 
University    control.     A    revision    of  the    statutes 


Chap.  XIII. ]        HARSH   LAW.      EXPORTS.      CONTEMPT  CASE. 


417 


was  also  adopted,  which  very  wisely  abolished  all 
laws  not  contained  in  it.  This  became  necessary 
from  the  number  of  unpublished  laws  that  were  not 
to  be  discovered  among  the  records,  but  had  been 
lost.  A  new  law  to  prevent  kidnapping  was  con- 
nected with  a  discreditable  provision  requiring  all 
persons  of  color  to  find  sureties  for  their  good 
behavior.  This  statute  was  not  enforced,  but  re- 
mained a  dead  letter  until,  several  years  after,  a 
riot  arose  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  destroy 
the  jail,  on  account  of  the  arrest  of  a  fugitive 
slave.  In  the  excitement  this  law  was  called  into 
requisition,  and  for  a  time  most  of  the  few  col- 
ored people  of  Detroit  remained  in  Canada.  But 
public  sentiment  would  not  tolerate  it,  and  it  was 
at  once  repealed. 

This  year  the  first  export  of  flour  took  place. 
Miller  &  Jermain  of  Monroe  shipped  200  barrels 
to  the  east.  Tobacco  was  also  raised  largely, 
and  the  next  year  100  hogsheads  of  Michigan 
tobacco  arrived  at  Baltimore,  other  parcels  having 
been  sold  elsewhere.  In  1828,  Judge  Witherell 
was  made  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  and  William 
Woodbridge  was  appointed  to  the  Supreme  Court 
with  Judges  Sibley  and  Chipman.  During  this 
year  much  feeling  arose  out  of  a  contempt  case 
against  John  P.  Sheldon,  for  publications  in  the 
Detroit  Gazette,  which  were  claimed  to  be  unau- 
thorized comments  on  some  action  of  Judge 
Woodbridge  in  the  Supreme  Court.  In  some  of 
the  articles  it  was  intimated  that  the  paper  had 
27 


418  RAILWAYS.      FRENCH   REVOLUTION.  [Chap.  XIII. 

driven  away  one  court  and  might  do  the  same  to 
another.  Judges  Woodbridge  and  Chipman,  on  a 
hearing  before  them,  held  him  guilty  and  fined 
him.  A  popular  assembly  passed  strong  resolu- 
tions against  the  proceeding,  and  the  fine  was 
paid  by  subscription.  The  controversy  involves 
the  feelings  of  too  many  living  persons  to  be 
fully  discussed  here.  It  became  very  widely  known, 
and  was  the  subject  of  much  comment  by  the 
press  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

In  1830,  the  first  railroad  was  chartered.  The 
"  Pontiac  and  Detroit  Railway  Company "  was 
incorporated,  with  power  to  use  a  part  of  the 
line  of  the  turnpike.  The  project  failed,  and  the 
law  was  very  crude  and  imperfect.  In  1832,  the 
Detroit  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad  was  chartered, 
which  afterwards  became  the  Michigan  Central — 
the  State  having  bought  out  the  company.  This 
was  the  first  charter  that  was  afterwards  acted  on. 

In  1830,  the  country  was  greatly  excited  over 
the  French  Revolution  of  July.  The  recent  visit 
of  La  Fayette  had  rekindled  the  old  American 
interest  in  France,  and  the  news  of  that  move- 
ment, in  which  he  took  so  great  a  part,  was  re- 
ceived with  rejoicing.  A  public  meeting  was  held 
in  Detroit,  in  which  all  the  citizens  participated, 
decked  with  the  tri-color,  and  addresses  were  made 
with  enthusiasm. 

Mr.   De  Tocqueville  arrived  in   Detroit  early  in 
the    summer,  and    the    news    of    the    Revolution 


Chap.  XIII.]  CASS   MADE  SECRETARY   OF  WAR  419 

reached  him    in  the    woods    between    Detroit   and 
Saginaw. 

The  Territory  now  began  to  feel  the  effect  of 
general  politics  which  had  never  before  seriously 
interfered.  Major  Rowland  was  removed  from 
the  office  of  marshal,  John  L.  Leib  being  placed 
in  his  room.  General  John  T.  Mason,  a  non-resi- 
dent, was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Territory, 
which  made  him  acting  Governor  in  the  Gover- 
nor's absence,  although  he  had  obtained  no  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  country.  It  is  well  known 
that  at  this  time  there  were  very  loose  party  ties, 
as  the  people  were  in  an  unsettled  state,  and  re- 
mained so  until  the  separation  into  Whigs  and 
Democrats  shortly  after.  But  removals  from  office 
became  very  frequent. 

The  want  of  harmony  in  General  Jackson's 
Cabinet,  which  did  not  arise  from  political  so 
much  as  from  personal  difficulties,  led  to  its 
dissolution,  in  April,  1831.  The  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  War,  having  first  been  offered  to  Hugh 
L.  White  of  Tennessee,  was  given  to  General 
Cass,  who  accepted  it,  and  left  Detroit  in  the 
spring. 

He  was  much  respected  by  men  of  all  parties 
in  Michigan.  He  had  held  his  office  six  terms, 
under  Madison,  Monroe,  Adams  and  Jackson,  and 
had  acted  throughout  with  spirit  and  dignity.  His 
administration  was  eminently  popular,  and  he  de- 
sired and  endeavored  to  secure  to  the  people,  as 
soon  as  possible,  all  the  privileges  of  self-govern- 


420  SOCIAL  AFFAIRS.  TChap.  XIII. 

ment.  If  he  erred  in  this  respect,  it  was  an  error 
in  the  direction  of  the  largest  popular  authority. 
His  views  were  broad  and  sagacious,  and  he  was 
very  free  from  personal  bitterness  and  malignity. 
The  inevitable  asperities  of  politics  exposed  him 
in  later  years  to  the  attacks  made  on  all  public 
men,  and  his  course  in  national  affairs  has  been 
severely  assailed  and  warmly  defended.  But  no 
one  now  has  any  doubts  about  his  sincere  and 
unqualified  patriotism.  He  was  a  brave  defender 
and  a  true  lover  of  his  country. 

The  social  condition  of  the  Territory  was  re- 
markably pleasant  during  his  residence  as  Gover- 
nor. The  persons  who  came  westward  in  those 
days  were  principally  Americans  of  enterprise 
and  intelligence.  The  schools  and  all  other  means 
of  improvement  were  carefully  fostered,  and  it  is 
not  often  that  a  more  cultivated  or  genial  society 
is  found  anywhere. 

One  pleasant  feature  of  life  in  such  commu- 
nities as  the  early  border  towns  of  the  west,  was 
the  cordiality  and  freedom  from  stiffness  which 
produced  as  near  an  approach  to  republican  sim- 
plicity and  equality  as  is  ever  found  anywhere. 
With  no  lack  of  comfort  and  elegance,  there  was 
an  entire  absence  of  ostentation.  Strangers  were 
often  surprised  and  amused  at  one  custom  which 
the  inhabitants  found  both  pleasant  and  profitable. 
Sidewalks  and  paved  streets  were  alike  unknown, 
and  the  condition  of  the  city  ways  was  for  seve- 
ral   months    in    the    year    only    equalled    by    the 


Chap.  XIII.]  CARTS.  421 

country  roads  described  by  Macaulay,  when  the 
coach  and  four  was  used  from  necessity  and  not 
from  pride.  In  winter,  the  streets  and  rivers  were 
merry  with  carioles  and  sleighs.  But  at  all  sea- 
sons, the  favorite  family  vehicle  for  safe  carriage 
to  church  or  party,  was  a  common  one-horse  cart, 
used  as  well  for  the  most  homely  purposes  as  to 
supply  the  place  of  a  coach.  The  rude  box, 
cushioned  with  hay  and  buffalo  robes,  and  crowded 
with  as  many  laughing  inmates  as  could  find  room 
on  its  spacious  floor,  was  absolutely  safe  from  up- 
setting, and  the  absence  of  springs  was  usually 
compensated  by  a  yielding  bed  of  mud,  so  that 
jolting  was  not  felt.  This  strong  two-wheeled 
vehicle  was  backed  up  to  the  place  of  entry  or 
destination ;  and  on  all  occasions  of  public  wor- 
ship, or  other  concourse,  a  row  of  carts  would  be 
found  awaiting  the  hour  of  dismissal.  The  only 
chance  of  accident  was  from  the  loosening  of 
the  staple  which  held  down  the  box  in  front,  and 
was  meant  to  be  unbolted  when  a  load  other 
than  human  was  to  be  tipped  out  at  the  back. 
It  occasionally  happened  that  a  mischievous  urchin 
would  produce  this  catastrophe  to  a  cart-full  of 
people,  but  never  with  tragical  results.  Carts 
were  not  wholly  superseded  by  carriages  in  De- 
troit until  within  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  long  winters,  during  which  they  were  shut 
in  by  themselves,  compelled  them  to  draw  on 
their  own  resources.  Literary  and  scientific  soci- 
eties   and    reunions    were    established   very  early, 


422 


LITERARY   CONTRIBUTIONS.  [Chap,  fcttl. 


and  all  who  had  anything  to  contribute  to  the 
general  enjoyment  gave  it  cheerfully.  A  lyceum 
was  organized  in  the  early  days  of  the  Territory, 
in  which  papers  were  read  by  men  of  thorough 
scholarship  and  research.  Many  important  contri- 
butions to  history  were  thus  secured.  At  one 
time  or  another  most  of  the  prominent  army  offi- 
cers have  been  stationed  at  Detroit,  and  always 
did  their  share.  Among  other  things  they  organ- 
ized a  Thespian  Corps  of  much  dramatic  excel- 
lence, in  which  the  now  venerable  and  not  Lilli- 
putian General*  James  Watson  Webb  performed 
as  a  graceful  brunette.  Major  (afterwards  Gene- 
ral) Henry  Whiting,  an  elegant  writer,  (author  of 
Ontwa  and  Sanilac,  and  minor  poems,  not  now  in 
print,  and  editor  of  an  important  series  of  Wash- 
ington papers,)  read  various  essays  before  the 
lyceum  and  elsewhere.  Major  John  Biddle,  Ma- 
jor Thomas  Rowland,  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  and 
General  Cass,  were  also  valued  and  ready  con- 
tributors. Major  Rowland  is  said  to  have  written 
the  Joel  Downing  papers,  a  series  of  humorous 
political  satires,  after  the  style  of  Major  Jack 
Downing's  letters.  Mr.  Charles  C.  Trowbridge 
rendered  permanent  service  to  history  by  securing 
narratives  from  eye-witnesses  of  the  Pontiac  war, 
as  well  as  other  matters  of  interest.  These  gen- 
tlemen, with  others  of  like  tastes,  organized  the 
State  Historical  Society ;  and  the  published 
sketches  of  General  Cass,  Major  Whiting,  Major 
Biddle    and    Mr.  Schoolcraft    remain    the   best  sy- 


Chap.  XIII.]  DOCTOR   HOUGHTON.  423 

nopsis  of  our  history  that  has  ever  yet  been  pre- 
pared. Doctor  Douglass  Houghton  was  first  made 
known  to  Michigan  by  having  been  secured  by  a 
number  of  Detroit  citizens,  in  1829,  to  deliver  a 
winter  course  of  lectures  on  chemistry.  He  was 
obliged  to  remain  through  the  whole  season  "for 
that  purpose,  and,  although  then  but  twenty  years 
of  age,  made  so  favorable  an  impression,  and  was 
so  favorably  impressed,  that  he  was  placed  upon 
the  second  commission  to  seek  the  sources  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  after  his  return  became  a  per- 
manent resident  of  Detroit.  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark that  when  General  Cass  made  his  first  visit 
to  Detroit  on  his  return  from  his  mission  to  the 
Court  of  Louis  Philippe,  Doctor  Houghton,  as 
Mayor  of  Detroit,  delivered  the  address  of  wel- 
come;  and  when,  in  the  fall  of  1845,  tne  melan- 
choly news  was  received  of  the  death  of  that 
eminent  devotee  of  science,  the  meeting  which 
was  called  to  express  the  sense  of  public  bereave- 
ment was  addressed  by  General  Cass,  as  principal 
speaker,  and  his  remarks  were  a  feeling  and  elo- 
quent tribute  to  one  whom  he  had  loved  and  ad- 
mired ever  since  he  had  known  him. 

The  Governor  did  not  lose  his  concern  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Territory.  He  continued  to  use  his 
influence  to  further  its  prosperity ;  and  while  he 
remained  in  the  United  States,  he  was  useful  in 
many  ways  to  the  public  interests  of  Michigan. 

But  the  end  of  her  pupilage  was  approaching. 
And,    in    order    that    the    sense    of    independence 


424  IMPORTED  OFFICERS.  [Chap.  XIII 

might  not  come  too  early,  her  destinies  were  for  a 
time  entrusted  to  the  care  of  strangers,  most  of 
whom  became,  however,  in  due  time,  very  loyal 
citizens  of  their  new  realm. 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

LAST   YEARS    OF    THE    TERRITORY. 

The  Territory  now  had  a  population  of  more 
than  thirty  thousand,  and  its  people  were  increas- 
ing very  fast.  Every  boat  from  the  east  brought 
in  large  loads  of  immigrants,  most  of  whom  re- 
mained in  Michigan.  The  movement  to  the  country 
west  of  Lake  Michigan  came  a  little  later,  and 
Chicago  was  not  yet  laid  out  as  a  town,  although 
it  was  a  post  of  some  consequence. 

The  laws,  although  reasonably  stable  for  so 
young  a  commonwealth,  had  been  subject  to  some 
fluctuations  since  the  formation  of  the  Council. 
These  changes  related  mostly  to  the  method  of 
conducting  local  business  and  to  courts.  The 
system  of  county  courts  by  degrees  gave  way  to 
the  circuit  system,  which  in  one  form  or  another 
has  since  prevailed.  The  county  system  was 
altered.  Beginning  with  the  county  court,  which 
for  administrative  purposes  answered  to  the  quarter 
sessions,  it  changed  first  to  the  county  commis- 
sioner plan,  borrowed  from  Massachusetts,  and 
then    to    the    board    of   supervisors,    derived    from 


426  EASTERN   COLONIES.  [Chap.  XIV. 

New  York.       After  the  State  came  into  existence 
there  were  further  changes. 

The  settlement  of  most  of  the  more  important 
townships  and  villages  was  very  fortunate.  In  a 
great  many  instances  neighborhoods  were  settled 
by  small  colonies  from  the  Eastern  States  and 
New  York,  who  came  in  sufficient  numbers  to  give 
harmonious  character  to  their  new  homes,  and 
maintain  wholesome  and  agreeable  social  sur- 
roundings. The  transition  from  an  old  to  a  new 
country  became  less  trying,  and  the  newjy  broken 
wilderness  was  brightened  by  familiar  associations. 
The  effect  of  these  united  movements  is  still  vis- 
ible, and  there  are  many  old  towns  and  townships 
that  keep  the  peculiar  characteristics  which  marked 
them  forty  and  fifty  years  ago.  There  are  not 
many  parts  of  the  United  States  where,  with  a 
full  measure  of  enterprise,  there  are  such  plain 
evidences  of  their  American  antecedents.  The 
growth  of  these  colonies  has  drawn  largely  from  the 
places  whence  they  emigrated.  Those  coming  west 
are  always  glad  to  find  old  friends  and  neighbors,  or 
their  kindred,  and  naturally  prefer  to  cast  their 
lot  among  them  to  settling  among  entire  strangers. 
When  the  immigration  from  Europe  began  to 
reach  large  proportions,  a  great  part  of  it  passed 
further  on ;  and  the  growth  of  Michigan  was 
chiefly  made  up  of  such  as  chose  a  country  re- 
sembling the  wooded  lands  to  which  they  were 
accustomed,  with  a  society  where  they  would  feel 
at  home,  to  the  prairies  which  were  so  inviting  to 


Chap.  XIV.]  PREPARATIONS   FOR  A  STATE.  427 

many  Europeans,  and  a  class  of  inhabitants  with 
whom  it  would  take  them  some  years  to  become 
familiar.  The  increase  of  population  was  rapid 
enough  to  indicate  life  and  prosperity.  It  has 
usually  been  gradual  enough  to  enable  those  who 
came  in  from  any  quarter  to  settle  down  into  the 
common  ways,  instead  of  forming  separate  clannish 
communities,  of  alien  manners  and  sympathies. 

It  was  evident  to  all  that  the  time  could  not 
be  far  distant  when  Michigan  must  become  a 
State.  As  this  time  drew  near,  it  was  natural 
that  the  people  of  the  Territory  should  begin  to 
look  upon  the  management  of  public  affairs  as 
fairly  belonging  to  them  ;  and  to  prepare  as  far  as 
possible  to  make  the  change  of  rule  free  from 
disturbance  or  abruptness.  The  southern  boundary 
had  been  tampered  with,  and  there  were  difficul- 
ties in  prospect  from  that  source.  The  increase 
of  removals  from  office  made  them  daily  conscious 
that  as  yet  their  wishes  were  to  have  no  weight 
in  the  guidance  of  their  most  important  affairs. 
The  people  who  had  joined  their  fortunes  to  the 
Territory  were  entirely  passed  by  in  the  chief 
executive  appointments,  and  almost  entirely  in 
some  others.  In  some  instances  the  appointments, 
and  the  removals  which  they  followed,  were  oc- 
casions of  much   bitterness. 

When  General  Cass  was  nominated  as  Secre- 
tary of  War,  he  was  —  though  not  by  his  own 
procurement,  —  announced  as  Lewis  Cass  of  Ohio. 
This  was  criticised  by  the  press,  and  defended  on 


428  GOVERNMENT   FROM    WITHOUT.  [Chap.  XIV. 

the  ground  that  a  Territorial  officer  was  like  a 
military  officer,  merely  detailed  on  service  which 
did  not  gain  him  a  residence.  As  the  Ordinance 
of  1787  expressly  required  the  Governor,  Judges 
and  Secretary,  to  reside  in  the  Territory,  and  to 
be  freeholders  there,  and  as  General  Cass  had  in 
good  faith  made  Michigan  his  home  and  the  centre 
of  all  his  interests,  this  theory  was  not  quite 
satisfactory,  and  was  not  made  any  more  so  by 
the  practical  application  which  regarded  the  people 
as  subjects  rather  than  citizens,  and  supplied  them 
with  a  foreign  government.  These  abuses  have 
now  become  apparently  the  normal  conditions  of 
Territorial  existence.  They  had  not  then  been  so 
universally  recognized,  as  not  to  be  regarded  as 
unpleasant  reminders  of  praetorian  authority. 
The  personal  worth  of  such  officers  may  prevent 
misgovernment,  but  the  system  is  in  violation  of 
free  principles ;  and  however  proper  it  may  be 
while  there  is  no  considerable  population,  and  no 
choice  of  fit  persons  for  office,  it  is  not  adapted 
to  communities  which  are  populous,  and  as  well 
informed  on  their  own  affairs,  and  as  capable  ol 
furnishing  competent  officers,  as  any  of  the  States. 
General  Cass  having  resigned  his  Territorial 
office,  General  John  T.  Mason  became  acting- 
Governor.  But  his  interests  or  duties  called  him 
elsewhere,  and,  for  reasons  that  seem  to  have  been 
confidential,  he  found  it  important  to  make  a  jour- 
ney to  Mexico,  probably  on  a  secret  mission  of 
some  kind,  where  he  was  more  or  less  concerned 


Chap.  XIV.]        SECRETARY   MASON.     GOVERNOR    PORTER.  429 

in  the  events  which  led  to  the  separation  of  Texas. 
He  was  permitted  to  resign  the  Secretaryship  in 
favor  of  his  son,  Stevens  Thomson  Mason,  ap- 
pointed as  from  Kentucky.  This  gentleman  re- 
ceived his  commission  during  a  recess  of  the 
Senate,  and  was  sworn  in  on  the  25th  of  July, 
1831. 

The  office  of  Governor  was  not  at  once  filled, 
probably  from  reluctance  on  the  part  of  some 
persons  to  accept  an  office  which  was  likely  to 
be  of  short  duration.  Major  John  H.  Eaton,  the 
recently  retired  Secretary  of  War,  was  commonly 
supposed  likely  to  receive  the  appointment.  He 
was  soon  made  Governor  of  Florida,  instead.  In 
August,  the  name  of  George  B.  Porter,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania,  was  sent  to  the  Senate,  and 
the  nomination  confirmed.  Governor  Porter  was 
a  lawyer  of  ability,  and  had  but  a  few  months 
before  been  made  United  States  Marshal  of 
Eastern  Pennsylvania.  He  at  once  removed  to 
Detroit  with  his  family,  and  adopted  Michigan  as 
his  future  home. 

News  of  the  probable  appointment  of  Mr. 
Mason  as  Secretary  was  received  in  Detroit  on 
the  23rd  of  July.  As  he  had  not  yet  reached 
his  majority,  and  was  only  slightly  known  to  the 
citizens  as  a  pleasant  and  promising  youth,  his 
selection  to  perform  the  chief  executive  functions 
of  the  Territory  was  not  received  with  favor.  A 
meeting  of  citizens  was  held,  presided  over  by 
Colonel    David    C  McKinstry,  an    active  friend  of 


430 


INDIGNATION   MEETING.  [Chap.  XIV. 


the  administration ;  and  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  ascertain  the  facts,  which  was  composed 
of  Messrs.  McKinstry,  Andrew  Mack,  Shubael  Co- 
nant,  Oliver  Newberry  and  John  E.  Schwarz.  The 
meeting  having  been  held  on  Saturday  night,  they 
waited  on  Mr.  Mason  (who  had  just  returned  from 
Washington)  on  Monday,  and  learned  from  him 
that  he  had  that  day  received  his  commission  and 
qualified, — that  his  age  was  as  had  been  repre- 
sented, and  that  the  President  had  appointed  him 
with  full  knowledge  of  the  circumstances.  They 
reported  accordingly  to  an  adjourned  meeting  on 
Monday  evening,  and  a  further  committee  was 
appointed,  (consisting  of  Eurotas  P.  Hastings, 
Henry  S.  Cole,  D.  C.  McKinstry,  Oliver  Newberry 
and  Alexander  D.  Fraser)  to  prepare  resolutions 
and  a  memorial  to  the  President  for  his  removal, 
to  be  signed  by  the  meeting  and  circulated  in 
the  Territory.  The  resolutions  were  confined  to 
the  illegality  and  impropriety  of  appointing  a  mi- 
nor to  such  a  position,  which  was  declared  to  be 
"  a  violation  of  the  principles  of  our  fundamental 
law,  and  of  the  genius  and  spirit  of  the  constitu- 
tion ;  and  in  the  highest  degree  derogatory  to  the 
freemen  over  whom  he  is  thus  attempted  to  be 
placed ;"  and  declared  that  "  we  hold  it  to  be  our 
duty  to  take  prompt  measures  with  a  view  to  his 
removal  from  that  office." 

The  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  and  the 
memorial,  produced  much  comment  in  the  leading 
journals  of  the  country ;  .and  the  propriety  of  the 


Chap.  XIV. J  STEVENS  THOMSON   MASON  431 

appointment  was  not  maintained,  but  it  was 
claimed  by  the  Globe — (then  the  official  organ) — 
that  having  been  appointed,  he  should  not  be  re- 
moved except  for  actual  misconduct.  As  many 
removals  had  been  recently  made  without  cause 
of  that  kind,  the  argument  was  not  conclusive,  and 
it  did  not  touch  the  point  of  minority.  He  was 
not  removed,  but,  toward  the  end  of  the  next 
session  of  the  Senate,  he  was  nominated  and  con- 
firmed, in  July  or  August,  1832,  when  he  had 
barely  reached  his  majority. 

The  appointment  and  arrival  of  Governor 
Porter  rendered  the  position  less  anomalous,  and 
the  frank  and  gentlemanly  reply  of  Mr.  Mason  to 
the  action  of  the  meeting  did  much  to  disarm 
criticism,  and  awaken  kind  feeling.  His  conduct 
had  never  been  arrogant,  and  while  he  had  his 
share  of  the  youthful  qualities  which,  though  not 
discreditable,  are  nevertheless  not  entirely  suited 
to  great  public  responsibilities,  he  was  manly  and 
generous,  and  very  well  adapted  to  obtain  sym- 
pathy. He  intimated  in  his  reply  that  a  young 
man  would  be  more  ready  to  accept  the  guidance 
of  his  elders  than  one  of  riper  age.  It  was  not 
very  long  before  he  had  mentors  enough ;  and 
among  his  most  devoted  adherents  were  some  of 
his  early  critics.  His  public  career,  when  the 
burdens  of  state  again  fell  upon  him,  was  for  a 
considerable  time  very  popular,  and  he  never  lost 
his  personal  popularity.  He  died  young,  and  he 
is  remembered  very  kindly. 


432 


POLITICAL   EXCITEMENTS.  [Chap.  XIV. 


It  often  happens  that  when  party  issues  are 
obscure,  and  personal  questions  prevail,  there  is 
much  less  restraint  in  controversy  than  when  men 
are  occupied  with  serious  political  problems.  While 
Mr.  Mason  paid  proper  respect  to  his  more  ex- 
perienced advisers,  his  companions  of  the  same 
age  naturally  gathered  about  him,  and  became 
demonstrative.  There  were  many  things  which 
were  more  or  less  exciting  to  older  politicians,  and 
there  has  never  been  a  time  in  Michigan  when 
there  were  so  many  personal  quarrels  and  rencoun- 
ters on  political  and  semi-political  grounds.  The 
use  of  weapons  in  private  disputes  has  never 
been  approved  in  this  community,  but  for  a  year 
or  two  there  were  affrays  altogether  too  frequent, 
in  which  more  or  less  blood  was  shed  in  a  small 
way,  but,  fortunately  or  unfortunately,  with  no  fa- 
tal results.  Such  ebullitions  do  not  last  long. 
People  very  soon  discover  that  men  may  differ 
from  them  without  being  totally  depraved,  and 
learn  to  live  in  charity,  or  at  least  in  tolerance. 
And  while  the  disputes  on  national  questions  were 
very  bitter  for  several  years,  the  interests  of  the 
Territory  were  more  pressing,  and  upon  these 
there  was  something  approaching  unanimity. 

Governor  Porter  is  not  known  to  have  incurred 
any  political  or  personal  enmity.  He  was  an  able 
man  of  good  feeling  and  popular  manners,  with  a 
considerable  knowledge  of  agricultural  as  well  as 
public  affairs.  He  took  that  interest  in  the  Ter- 
ritory   which    might   be    expected    of   one  who  in- 


Chap.  XIV.]  GOVERNOR   PORTER.      OHIO  LINE  433 

tended  to  remain  in  it.  He  was,  among  other 
things,  very  active  in  encouraging  the  improvement 
of  stock,  and  some  of  the  best  animals  in  the 
State  are  descended  from  those  he  introduced. 
He  did  not  remain  in  office  long  enough  to  ac- 
complish very  much,  but  his  administration  was 
judicious,  and  creditable,  and  his  death  was  sin- 
cerely regretted  as  a  public  loss. 

The  year  1831  passed  without  much  that  is 
deserving  of  record,  beyond  the  removals  and  ap- 
pointments, which  operated  here  as  they  did  else- 
where, and  are  of  no  present  importance.  In  the 
spring  of  the  year,  a  resolution  was  passed  by 
the  Council,  authorizing  the  Governor  to  negotiate 
with  Ohio  to  adjust  the  boundary  line  on  the  basis 
of  a  cession  of  all  east  of  the  Maumee,  for  an 
equivalent  westward.  Nothing  seems  to  have 
come  of  this  proposition.  It  had  not  yet  been 
supposed  there  was  any  grave  doubt  about  the 
rights  of  Michigan  in  the  lands  afterwards  dis- 
puted. Roads  were  laid  out  and  other  improve- 
ments contemplated,  and  the  future  storm  was  not 
visible. 

The  county  seats  of  Hillsdale,  Kalamazoo,  Sag- 
inaw, Lapeer  and  Jackson  were  located  this  year. 
That  of  the  latter  county  was  first  named  with 
the  imposing  title  of  Jacksonopolis.  A  year  or  two 
after  it  was  .Anglicised  into  Jacksonburgh.  Its 
next  metamorphosis  was  into  its  present  shape  of 
Jackson,  where  it  will  probably  remain.  The  early 
statute  books  contain  many  ambitious  names  which 
28 


434 


JOHN   TRUMBULL.  [Chap.  XIV. 


have  one  by  one  disappeared,  until  the  State  is 
reasonably  free  from  the  ridiculous  titles  that  once 
adorned  its  paper  cities,  whose  ambitious  clapboard 
palaces,  erected  in  an  unbroken  wilderness,  were 
never  inhabited,  and  have  ceased  to  surprise  the 
straggling  explorer  of  their  deserted  avenues. 

On  the  ioth  day  of  May,  1831,  John  Trum- 
bull died  at  Detroit  at  the  advanced  age  of  82. 
He  had  not  lived  in  the  Territory  more  than  six 
or  seven  years — having  come  out  to  pass  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days  with  his  daughter,  the  wife 
of  Judge  William  Woodbridge.  Judge  Trumbull 
was  a  prominent  and  honored  citizen  during  the 
American  Revolution,  as  well  as  afterwards,  and 
his  poem  of  McFingal  was  one  of  those  well- 
timed  and  well-written  satires  which  sometimes 
perform  an  important  part  in  public  emergencies. 
It  was  a  very  felicitous  sketch,  which  became  in- 
stantly popular,  and  produced  as  marked  an  effect 
in  the  United  States  as  Hudibras  did  in  England. 
It  is  one  of  those  productions  which  are  valuable, 
not  only  for  their  keen  satire  and  amusing  hits, 
but  for  their  preservation  of  past  manners  and 
ways,  which  are  seldom  depicted  by  grave  writers, 
yet  are  necessary  to  the  comprehension  of  both 
law  and  history.  American  literature  is  not  rich 
in  those  unstudied  productions  which  might  place 
us  in  the  same  familiar  relations  with  the  olden 
time  in  this  country,  which  we  are  enabled  to  en- 
joy with  the  days  of  Pepys,  and  Boswell,  and 
Alexander  Carlyle,  and    Horace    Walpole.     Judge 


Chap.  XIV.]       JUDICIAL  CHANGES.    STATE  CONTEMPLATED.  4  35 

Trumbull  was  not  without  distinction  in  various 
public  offices,  but  as  an  early  writer,  thoroughly 
American  in  all  things,  and  possessing  both  learn- 
ing and  genius,  he  is  entitled  to  honored  remem- 
brance. His  placid  and  kindly  face  was  not  known 
to  many  of  this  generation,  but  he  ought  not  to 
be  forgotten    by  the    citizens    of  his    latest   home. 

In  1832,  Judges  Woodbridge  and  Chipman 
were  superseded  by  George  Morell  of  New  York, 
and  Ross  Wilkins  of  Pennsylvania.  Both  of  these 
gentlemen  were  prominent  in  judicial  life  after 
the  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  as  well  as 
during  the  Territory,  and  their  reputation  is  familiar 
to  all  our  people.  They  were  very  important  and 
active  agents  in  the  development  of  our  juris- 
prudence. 

On  the  29th  of  June,  1832,  a  statute  was  passed 
to  call  an  election  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  Octo- 
ber, to  determine  "  whether  it  be  expedient  for 
the  people  of  this  Territory  to  form  a  State  gov- 
ernment." At  this  election  all  free  white  male 
inhabitants  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  were 
allowed  to  vote.  The  result  of  the  election 
was  a  very  decisive  expression  in  favor  of  the 
change. 

In  the  early  spring  of  this  year,  Black  Hawk, 
a  Sac  chief  who  had  moved  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  by  repeated  conventions  had  agreed  to 
stay  there,  came  across  the  river  with  a  band  of 
Sacs    and    Foxes,  and    committed    depredations    in 


436  BLACK   HAWK   WAR  TChap.  XIV. 

northern  Illinois,  and  southern  Wisconsin,  which 
was  then  in  the  Territory  of  Michigan.  The  Gov- 
ernor of  Illinois  sent  up  a  force  under  General 
Whiteside,  who  left  Beardstown  on  the  27th  of 
April,  with  1,800  men,  for  the  mouth  of  Rock 
River.  General  Atkinson  moved  up  from  St. 
Louis  early  in  April,  with  a  force  of  regulars. 
Colonel  Henry  Dodge  of  Michigan  raised  a  force 
of  Territorial  volunteers,  and  rendered  very  im- 
portant services,  having  taken  measures  to  prevent 
mischief  from  the  Winnebagoes  and  other  doubt- 
ful Michigan  Indians,  and  then  entered  vigorously 
upon  a  decisive  campaign.  Many  sharp  fights 
took  place  during  the  spring  and  summer,  and 
on  the  2d  of  August  the  last  battle  was  fought, 
in  which  Colonel  Dodge  and  Colonel  Zachary 
Taylor,  afterwards  President  of  the  United  States, 
had  command  in  the  advance,  and  the  Indian 
force  was  nearly  annihilated.  Black  Hawk  was 
held  as  a  prisoner  for  several  months,  being  last 
confined  in  Fortress  Monroe.  He  was,  in  June, 
1833,  taken  out  of  that  fort,  and  escorted  through 
the  principal  towns  back  to  the  Mississippi ;  and 
during  the  remaining  seven  years  of  his  life  he 
behaved  himself  with  propriety,  and  made  no  fur- 
ther trouble.  The  officer  who  first  took  him  down 
the  river  to  Jefferson  barracks  was  then  known 
as  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis,  of  the  United  States 
Army.  Although  intelligent,  und  having  some 
causes  of  grievance,  Black  Hawk  was  not  one  of 
the  best  types    of  Indians.     The  Sacs  and    Foxes 


Chap.  XIV.] 


CHOLERA  437 


had  a  bad  reputation  when  the  French  first  came 
to  Detroit,  and  they  never  lost  it.  Black  Hawk's 
own  story  shows  him  to  have  been  very  treach- 
erous. He  was  an  old  man  of  65  when  this  last 
Indian  war  broke  out,  and  was  in  the  British  in- 
terest as  long  as  they  provided  for  him.  He 
seems  to  have  had  an  idea  that  the  British  gov- 
ernment would  help  him.  He  had  never  kept 
informed  of  the  American  settlement  of  Michigan, 
and  nothing  surprised  him  more  than  the  changes 
in  Detroit  and  the  other  settlements,  with  which 
he  had  been  familiar  during  the  war  of  181 2. 
He  had  not  learned  before  that  Maiden  had  ceased 
to  plague  the  Northwest. 

The  losses  of  men  by  the  casualties  of  battle 
in  the  Black  Hawk  war  were  not  so  great  as 
might  have  been  feared.  There  was,  however,  a 
worse  enemy  than  the  Indians,  and  the  ravages 
of  the  Asiatic  cholera  were  fearful.  This  dreadful 
disease  did  not  reach  many  of  the  troops  while 
in  the  field,  near  the  seat  of  war.  But  it  inter- 
cepted them  on  the  way,  and  broke  up  a  part  of 
the  expeditions  sent  out  from  the  seaboard. 

The  coming  of  the  cholera  had  been  expected, 
as  it  had  been  making  its  way  steadily  westward 
from  Asia  for  many  months.  The  Michigan  Legis- 
lative Council  passed  laws  early  in  the  summer, 
for  the  proper  organization  of  boards  of  health, 
and  had  given  large  powers  to  the  municipal 
bodies.  But  while  cleanliness  was  known  to  be 
essential,  no  remedies  had  yet  been  discovered  to 


438  CHOLERA. 


[Chap.  XIV 


check  or  cure  the  disease ;  and  while  die  physi- 
cians were  diligently  studying  how  to  meet  it,  all 
manner  of  nostrums  and  preventives  were  resorted 
to  by  the  terrified  people.  It  reached  Detroit  be- 
fore midsummer,  and  at  once  the  large  body  of 
laboring  people,  who  had  nothing  to  keep  them 
in  the  city,  fled  into  the  country,  with  exaggerated 
stories  of  horrors,  which  were  bad  enough  at  the 
best.  Many  citizens  were  attacked  by  the  cholera 
in  a  severe  form,  and  a  large  share  of  them  died. 
A  church  building  was  converted  into  a  hospital, 
and  all  was  done  which  could  be  to  mitigate  the 
sufferings  of  the  victims.  Business  was  hardly 
thought  of.  The  air,  whether  really  or  in  fancy, 
appeared  unusually  oppressive ;  and  at  nightfall, 
at  the  street  crossings  and  all  along  the  public 
ways,  as  well  as  at  private  houses,  great  kettles 
of  burning  pitch  blazed,  and  threw  up  dark  columns 
of  smoke  late  into  the  night.  The  customary  so- 
lemnities of  burial  were  shortened,  and  sometimes 
neglected.  A  rigid  quarantine  intercepted  the  or- 
dinary course  of  travel.  But  the  omission  which 
at  first  was  most  noted,  was  that  of  the  tolling 
of  the  bell.  A  custom  had  prevailed  for  a  long 
time  of  ringing  the  passing  bell,  immediately  after 
the  death  of  any  person  in  the  town.  The  build- 
ings were  mostly  within  a  small  compass,  and 
the  bell  of  the  First  Protestant  Society,  which 
was  used  for  all  public  purposes,  could  be  dis- 
tinctly heard  everywhere.  In  such  small  commu- 
nities the  death  of  any   one  interests  the  feelings 


Chap.  XIV.]  MOVEMENTS  OF  TROOPS.  .439 

of  all ;  and  the  tolling  which  announced  that 
some  one  had  just  departed,  was  always  heard 
with  solemn  emotions.  But  when  the  victims  of 
the  cholera  began  to  multiply,  the  frequency  of 
these  knells  added  to  the  general  panic,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  discontinue  them.  The  cus- 
tom once  broken  was  not  renewed,  and  was  soon 
forgotten. 

A  considerable  force  of  United  States  troops 
was  ordered  to,  the  seat  of  war,  and  they  were  all 
sent  up  by  steamboats  from  Buffalo,  bound  for 
Chicago.  These  detachments  reached  Detroit 
early  in  July.  The  Michigan  volunteers  from  De- 
troit had  left  before  the  cholera  became  fatal,  and 
marched  across  the  country ;  but  their  services 
were  not  required,  and  the  orders  were  counter- 
manded before  they  reached  Lake  Michigan. 
Colonel  Garry  Spencer's  cavalry  troop  had 
marched  beyond  the  St.  Joseph's  River,  but  the 
infantry  had  not  gone  very  far  before  they  were 
recalled.  The  first  detachment  of  regulars,  con- 
sisting of  220  men,  accompanied  by  Major  General 
Winfield  Scott,  went  up  on  the  steamboat  Sheldon 
Thompson.  When  she  left  Chicago  on  the  re- 
turn trip,  one  officer  and  51  men  had  died,  and 
80  were  sick.  General  Scott  and  several  other 
officers  had  mild  attacks  of  the  cholera,  but  soon 
recovered. 

On  the  8th  of  July  it  was  known  in  Detroit 
that  of  370  who  had  gone  up  after  General 
Scott's  party,  under  Colonel  Twiggs,  and  had  been 


440         CHOLERA  VICTIMS.     TERRITORY  EXTENDED.         [Chap.  XlV. 

compelled  to  land  below  Fort  Gratiot,  only  150 
remained — a  large  number  having  died  of  cholera 
and  the  rest  deserted.  Very  few  of  these  panic- 
stricken  wretches  reached  Detroit.  Most  of  them 
died  in  the  woods  and  on  the  road,  and  of  these 
many  were  devoured  by  wolves  and  other 
beasts.  A  third  detachment,  under  Colonel  Cum- 
mings,  had  at  first  encamped  at  Detroit,  where 
several  died.  The  survivors  were  embarked  on 
the  William  Penn,  but  in  a  short  time  were  com- 
pelled to  return.  They  were  put  in  camp  again 
at  Springwells,  and  there  was  afterwards  compara- 
tively little  mortality  among  them.  It  was 
reckoned  that  more  than  half  of  the  aggregate 
commands  were  swept  away.  Of  six  companies 
that  left  Fortress  Monroe,  but  180  men  returned; 
and  the  losses  among  others  were  in  similar  pro- 
portion. 

Among  the  more  prominent  citizens  who  died 
during  this  summer,  were  Father  Gabriel  Richard, 
and  General  Charles  Larned,  —  a  distinguished 
lawyer,  who  had  been  Attorney  General  of  the 
Territory.  Jacob  M.  Howard,  and  Franklin 
Sawyer,  (afterwards  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction,)  were  students  in  his  office. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  1834,  all  the  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  north  of 
Missouri,  as  far  as  the  Missouri  and  White  Earth 
Rivers,  was  attached  to,  and  made  a  part  of  the 
Territory  of  Michigan.  The  Legislative  Council 
was  also  authorized  to  hold  an   extra    session,    on 


Chap.  XIV.]  DEATH  OF  GOVERNOR   PORTER.  441 

the  call  of  the  Governor.      The  necessity   of  this 
arose  from  the  annexation. 

On  the  5th  of  July,  Governor  Porter  died  of 
cholera,  which  was  during  that  summer  very  fatal. 
Seven  per  cent  of  the  population  of  Detroit  died 
in  a  single  month.  His  funeral  services  were 
celebrated  in  the  Capitol,  and  were  attended  by 
a  very  large  concourse  ol  people,  who  held  him 
in  great  respect.  His  death  would  have  been  a 
loss  to  the  Territory  at  any  time,  and  it  was  at 
this  time  especially  lamentable,  as  the  public 
affairs  soon  became  critical,  and  would  have  been 
all  the  better  for  his    good    sense    and    prudence. 

The  Council  was  called  together  by  Acting 
Governor  Mason  in  September.  The  western  ter- 
ritory was  set  off  into  the  Counties  of  Dubuque 
and  Des  Moines,  and  put  in  the  same  circuit 
with  the  County  of  Iowa,  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
A  law  was  passed  for  taking  a  census  of  the 
Territory.  Provision  was  also  made  for  appoint- 
ing boundary  commissioners,  to  adjust  the  southern 
boundaries  with  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  Noth- 
ing came  of  this  latter  project. 

Governor  Porter's  place  was  never  filled. 
General  Jackson  sent  to  the  Senate  for  confirma- 
tion the  name  of  Henry  D.  Gilpin.  This  nomina- 
nation  was  rejected.  The  President  and  Senate 
were  not  at  this  time  in  full  accord,  and  Mr. 
Gilpin  was  obnoxious  as  having  been  connected 
with  some  of  the  matters  which  had  given  rise  to 
the  difficulty.     This  arose  chiefly  from  the  appoint- 


442  POPULATION  Xhap.  XIV. 

ment  of  Roger  B.  Taney  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  his  removal  of  the  public  deposits 
from  the  United  States  Bank,  which  led  to  resolu- 
tions of  censure  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  and 
to  a  new  political  organization  and  the  merging 
of  the  old  parties.  Mr.  Taney's  nomination  was 
held  over  by  the  President  until  the  end  of  the 
session,  when  he  was  rejected  at  once.  General 
Jackson  made  no  further  nomination  after  Mr. 
Gilpin's  rejection.  Afterwards  he  had  entertained 
the  idea  of  filling  the  vacancy  by  an  appointment 
during  the  recess.  Finding  this  could  not  be  done, 
he  left  Secretary  Mason  in  charge  of  the  executive 
department  of  the  Territory,  until  he  became  dis- 
satisfied with  his  course  during  the  period  before 
the  establishment  of  the  State  government.  As 
this  occurred  but  a  few  weeks  before  Governor 
Mason  was  elected  and  assumed  office  under  the 
State,  it  was  too  late  to  be  anything  but  a  source 
of  some  trouble  to  the  estimable  —  but  impru- 
dent—  gentleman  who  last  undertook  to  govern 
Michigan  as  a  Territory. 

The  census,  which  was  completed  before  the 
adjournment  of  the  Council,  showed  that,  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  original  Territory  of  Mich- 
igan, there  were  87,273  free  inhabitants.  This 
was  an  increase  of  61,768  beyond  the  26,505  re- 
ported by  the  census  of  1830.  More  people  had 
come  into  Michigan  in  four  years  than  the  60,000 
which  entitled  her  to  become  a  State.  This  did 
not    include    the   large  immigration  west    of  Lake 


Chap.  XIV.]  WISCONSIN.  443 

Michigan,  whereby  Wisconsin  had  already  obtained 
a  population  which  would  give  her,  if  a  Territory, 
the  right  to  a  complete  popular  legislature.  The 
Legislative  Council  of  Michigan,  in  December, 
1834,  memorialized  Congress  upon  the  subject  of 
establishing  a  Territorial  government  for  Wisconsin. 
This  had  been  mooted  for  some  time,  and  "  Huron" 
Territory  had  been  the  very  inappropriate  name 
before  suggested  for  it.  The  Hurons  had  not 
lived  there,  and  Lake  Huron  did  not  touch  it. 
The  name  finally  selected  was  appropriate  and 
satisfactory.  Nothing  was  done  by  Congress  to 
set  apart  this  Territory  until  Michigan  was  ready 
for  admission,  when  Wisconsin  was  set  off,  and 
her  new  career  of  independence  began  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1836.  But  the  last  delegate  to  Con- 
gress from  Michigan  Territory,  George  W.  Jones, 
had  been  purposely  allowed  to  be  chosen  from 
Wisconsin  ;  and  the  Michigan  authorities  had  done 
all  in  their  power  to  advance  the  admission  of 
that-  region  as  a  separate  Territory. 

On  the  26th  of  January,  1835,  an  act  was 
passed,  which,  after  reciting  the  act  of  1805, 
whereby  the  territory  north  of  an  east  and  west 
line,  running  from  the  southerly  bend  of  Lake 
Michigan  to  Lake  Erie,  was  set  off  as  the  Terri- 
tory of  Michigan,  and  the  people,  whenever  there 
should  be  60,000  free  inhabitants,  were  authorized 
to  form  a  permanent  constitution  and  organize  as 
a  State,  appointed  an  election  of  delegates  to  form 
a    convention    to    adopt    a    constitution   and    State 


444         CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.     BOUNDARIES.       [Chap.  XIV. 

government.  The  election  was  to  be  held  on  Sat- 
urday, April  4,  1835  ;  and  the  convention  was  to 
meet  at  Detroit,  on  the  second  Monday  of  May. 
The  delegates  were  to  be  adult  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  voters  adult  free  white  male 
inhabitants.  The  inhabitants  of  the  strip  of  land 
attached  to  Indiana  were  allowed  to  vote  in  the 
districts  and  counties  immediately  north  of  them. 
This  Indiana  strip  had  never  been  included  in  the 
organized  counties  of  Michigan,  and  the  Council 
disclaimed  any  design  to  assume  control  over  it, 
until  their  rights  could   be  adjudicated. 

Up  to  this  time  Michigan  had  been  in  peaceable 
possession  of  the  country  east  of  Indiana,  and 
north  of  the  latitude  of  the  southern  point  of  Lake 
Michigan,  as  surveyed  in  181 8,  and  the  authority 
of  Ohio  had  not  been  in  force  there.  It  had  been 
included  in  1827  in  the  Township  of  Port  Law- 
rence, laid  out  at  the  same  time  with  the  earliest 
township  divisions  in  the  rest  of  the  Territory. 
The  first  act  laying  out  Territorial  roads,  in  1828, 
had  established  such  a  road  from  Port  Lawrence, 
through  Adrian,  in  Lenawee  County,  to  intersect 
the  Chicago  Road,  and  the  authorities  had  sur- 
veyed and  laid  it  out,  and  opened  it,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Territory.  The  Erie  and  Kalamazoo 
Railroad  was  chartered  in  1833,  from  Port  Law- 
rence to  Adrian,  and  thence  to  the  Kalamazoo 
River ;  and  the  only  authority  whereby  lands  were 
obtained  for  its  line  was  under  the  laws  of 
Michigan. 


Chaf.  XIV.]  BOUNDARY   DISPUTE  445 

In  the  beginning  of  this  year,  (1835,)  Governor 
Lucas  of  Ohio  sent  in  to  the  Legislature  of  that 
State  a  message  asserting  jurisdiction  over  the 
territory  south  of  the  mouth  of  Maumee  Bay,  and 
urging  legislation  to  possess  and  control  it.  The 
Legislative  Council  of  Michigan,  upon  receiving 
notice  of  this  by  a  message  from  the  acting  Gov- 
ernor, passed  an  act  on  the  12th  of  February, 
1835,  "to  prevent  the  exercise  of  foreign  jurisdic- 
tion within  the  limits  of  the  Territory  of  Mich- 
igan," whereby  it  was  made  highly  penal  for  any 
one  to  accept  or  exercise  any  public  office,  in  any 
part  of  the  Territory,  except  by  commission  from 
the  United  States  or  from  Michigan.  On  the  23rd 
of  February,  the  Ohio  Legislature  passed  a  series 
of  acts  and  resolutions,  asserting  jurisdiction  over 
the  land  in  question,  declaring  that  measures 
should  be  taken  by  all  the  departments  of  the 
State  government  to  establish  it;  extending  or- 
ganized counties  so  as  to  cover  it,  and  directing 
commissioners  to  run  the  boundary  line  ;  and  re- 
quiring all  public  officers  to  extend  their  authority 
over  it.  Governor  Lucas  at  once  notified  the 
county  officers  to  exercise  their  functions,  and  the 
major  general  under  whose  command  the  new  dis- 
tricts were  placed  to  enrol  the  inhabitants  in  the 
militia ;  and  he  determined  to  attend  the  spring 
elections  in  person,  to  see  to  the  complete  re-or- 
ganization, and  appointed  commissioners  to  meet 
him  at  Perrysburgh,  on  the  1st  of  April,  to  run  the 
line.     The  Territorial  authorities  brought  the  mat- 


446 


BOUNDARY  DISPUTE.  [Chai\  XIV. 


ter  to  the  attention  of  the  President.  Congress 
had  adjourned  without  passing  an  act  giving  the 
land  to  Ohio,  which  had  been  sought  by  Ohio 
but  had  failed  at  two  recent  successive  sessions. 
Governor  Mason  ordered  General  Joseph  W. 
Brown,  commanding  the  Michigan  militia,  to  hold 
himself  in  readiness  to  resist  any  attempt  of  Ohio 
to  carry  out  the  threatened  measures ;  and  the 
Council  appropriated  money  to  enable  the  execu- 
tive to  enforce  the  laws  of  the  Territory.  The 
Michigan  authorities  used  such  force  as  was  ne- 
cessary, to  repel  intrusion  and  arrest  offenders 
against  the  law,  and  the  difficulties  became  very 
menacing.  The  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  (of  New  York,)  de- 
cided that  the  Michigan  authorities  were  in  the 
right,  and  such  was  the  view  of  the  President  and 
his  advisers ;  but  Messrs.  Rush  and  Howard  were 
sent  out  as  commissioners,  to  conciliate  matters  if 
possible.  It  was  afterwards  claimed  by  Governor 
Lucas,  but  denied  at  Washington,  that  these  gen- 
tlemen had  made  an  agreement  that  the  Ohio  line 
should  be  run  as  claimed,  and  the  people  be  al- 
lowed to  follow  their  individual  predilections  as  to 
which  government  they  would  obey,  until  the  close 
of  the  next  session  of  Congress.  It  never  was 
pretended  that  the  Michigan  authorities  consented 
to  this ;  and  if  the  commissioners  had  possessed 
any  authority,  which  the  Secretary  of  State  ex- 
pressly denied  had  been  attempted  to  be  bestowed 
on    them,  —  such    an    arrangement    as    the    latter, 


Chap.  XIV.]  BOUNDARY   DISPUTE.  447 

which  practically  would  be  anarchy,  would  have 
been  at  least  very  unlikely.  The  Michigan  au- 
thorities did  not  accept  or  act  on  such  an  arrange- 
ment, and  proceeded  to  arrest  offenders,  as  before, 
including  a  portion  of  the  party  of  the  Ohio  sur- 
vey commissioners.  Governor  Lucas  called  an 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature  of  Ohio,  and  they 
passed  a  statute  agreeing  to  the  terms  as  he  as- 
serted them  of  the  United  States  commissioners, 
provided  the  United  States  would  compel  Mich- 
igan to  respect  them,  —  otherwise,  directing  that 
the  Ohio  laws  should  be  carried  out ;  and  they 
appropriated  $300,000  for  that  purpose.  The 
Governor,  on  the  18th  of  June,  sent  in  a  second 
message  enclosing  a  sharp  correspondence  with 
Washington,  in  which  the  acting  Secretary  of  State 
denied  the  correctness  of  the  Governor's  under- 
standing:  of  the  views  of  the  commissioners  and 
of  the  President,  and  intimated  that  the  latter 
might  find  it  necessary  to  interfere  with  the  power 
of  the  United  States,  if  Ohib  persisted  in  running 
the  line  with  an  armed  escort.  Governor  Lucas 
afterwards  sent  commissioners  to  Washington,  and 
it  was  there  understood  that  General  Jackson 
would  recommend  the  Michigan  authorities  to 
avoid  any  unnecessary  violence.  For  a  time 
things  remained  quiet,  with  an  occasional  difficul- 
ty, but  no  general  interference. 

The  Legislature  of  Ohio  had,  at  the  latest 
session,  undertaken  to  organize  a  new  county 
named  Lucas  county,  covering  the  seat  of  difficulty, 


448  TOLEDO  WAR  [Chap.  XIV. 

and  it  was  understood  that  it  was  intended  to 
open  court  at  Toledo  on  the  7th  of  September, 
and  that  levies  of  troops  had  been  made  to  pro- 
tect the  judges  in  so  doing.  Governor  Mason 
thereupon  ordered  out  the  Michigan  forces,  and 
took  possession  of  Toledo,  accompanying  the 
troops  in  person.  It  is  said,  but  on  doubtful  au- 
thority, that  the  court  was  organized  by  night, 
and  secretly,  and  immediately  adjourned.  No  op- 
posing forces  were  encountered  by  Governor 
Mason ;  and  the  Michigan  levies  were  led  back 
over  the  line,  and  disbanded  at  their  various 
points  of  rendezvous.  The  feeling  all  over  Mich- 
igan was  intense,  and  it  is  fortunate  there  was  no 
fatal  bloodshed. 

Many  of  the  reminiscences  of  the  campaign 
partake  of  the  ludicrous.  It  is  not  desirable  to 
record  the  personal  incidents  and  misadventures 
which'  our  troops  reported  as  having  befallen 
themselves  and  some  of  their  civil  adversaries. 
Michigan  had  a  skeleton  in  her  own  closet,  in  the 
shape  of  a  "  claim  of  Lewis  E.  Bailey  for  a  horse 
lost  in  the  service  of  the  State,  in  defending  the 
supremacy  of  the  laws."  Year  after  year,  from 
1836  to  1846,  this  claim  was  regularly  presented 
and  regularly  rejected,  until  in  the  latter  year  it 
dawned  upon  the  minds  of  the  Legislature  that 
it  might  be  better  to  pay  fifty  dollars,  and  inter- 
est from  January  1st,  1836,  than  to  waste  time  and 
printing  enough  to  cost  more  than  a  regiment  of 
horses ;    and    they    surrendered    to    a    siege    that 


Chap.  XIV. J  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  449 

parallelled  in  duration  that  of  Troy.  Time  has 
healed  the  other  griefs,  and  if  the  historian  is 
compelled  to  discuss  them,  it  is  not  with  the  pa- 
thetic lament  of  Queen  Mary  over  the  loss  of 
Calais,  nor  the  hankering  for  territory  which  has 
made  Alsace-Lorraine  a  debatable  ground  so  long. 
However  doubtful  the  bargain  was  originally  by 
which  Ohio  obtained  the  spoils,  it  has  been  ratified 
too  thoroughly  to  be  disputed ;  and  our  only 
present  emulation  is  friendly  and  neighborly. 

The  history  of  the  disputed  boundary  is  not 
complicated.  The  Ordinance  of  1787,  which,  as 
already  pointed  out,  was  not  a  mere  statute — 
which  the  confederated  Congress  had  no  power 
to  enact  —  was  in  itself  a  compact,  and  article 
of  government,  for  a  region  over  which  Congress 
itself  could  not,  as  then  organized,  legislate  di- 
rectly at  all.  It  had  no  ordinary  legislative  power, 
and  reserved  none  ;  but,  in  pursuance  of  arrange- 
ments which  had  all  the  essentials  of  treaty  obli- 
gations, defined  certain  limits  for  the  temporary 
exercise  of  authority  by  a  legislative  board,  until 
the  population  should  reach  5,000  free  male  in- 
habitants, after  which  the  legislative  power  of  the 
Territory  was  absolute,  subject  only  to  certain 
specified  restrictions  necessary  to  justice.  The 
time  for  organizing  the  Legislature  was  ascertained 
by  the  Territorial,  and  not  by  the  Congressional, 
authorities,  and  it  was  expressly  stipulated,  as  a 
perpetual  compact,  that  while,  as  a  matter  of  grace, 
the  future  States  might  be  admitted  with  less  than 
29 


450 


SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY  [Chap.  XIV. 


60,000  inhabitants,  each  should  be  entitled  to  form 
a  permanent  constitution  and  State  government, 
and  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  matter  of 
right,  whenever  it  should  have  that  number.  It 
was  not  in  any  way  intimated  or  implied  that 
Congress  should  be  first  required  to  give  permis- 
sion, before  the  initial  steps  were  taken.  The  or- 
dinance itself  gave  this  permission,  as  plainly  as 
it  did  that  for  establishing  a  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture to  supplant  the  Legislative  Board.  The  only 
difficulty  that  could  arise  must  have  arisen  out  of 
the  authority  to  create  five,  instead  of  three 
States.  And  this  was  the  ground  insisted  upon ' 
by  those  who   questioned    the    right  of   Michigan. 

The  perpetual  compact  provided  for  "  not  less 
than  three,  nor  more  than  five,  States ;"  and  the 
three  contemplated  were  formed  by  the  indefinite 
continuation  northward,  to  the  national  boundary 
line,  of  the  present  lines  between  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
and  between  Indiana  and  Illinois.  These  were  sub- 
ject to  this  proviso  :  "  Provided,  however,  and  it  is 
further  understood  and  declared,  that  the  boundar- 
ies of  these  three  States  shall  be  subject  so  far  to 
be  altered  that  if  Congress  shall  thereafter  find  it 
expedient,  they  shall  have  authority  to  form  one  or 
two  States  in  that  part  of  the  said  territory  which 
lies  north  of  an  east  and  west  line  drawn  through  the 
southerly  bend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan.  And 
whenever  any  of  the  said  States  shall  have  sixty 
thousand  free  inhabitants  therein,  such  State  shall 
be  admitted,  by    its    delegates,  into    the    Congress 


Chap.  XIV.]  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  451 

of  the  United  States,  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States  in  all  respects  whatever;  and 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  form  a  permanent  constitu- 
tion and  State  government:  Provided,  the  con- 
stitution and  government  so  to  be  formed,  shall 
be  republican,  and  in  conformity  to  the  principles 
contained  in  these  articles;  and  so  far  as  it  can 
be  consistent  with  the  general  interests  of  the 
confederacy,  such  admission  shall  be  allowed  at 
an  earlier  period,  and  when  there  may  be  a  less 
number  of  free  inhabitants  in  the  State  than  sixty 
thousand." 

This  compact  was  declared  to  be  perpetual. 
It  was  established  when  there  was  no  expectation 
that  any  .change  would  be  made  in  the  articles  of 
confederation,  which  would  give  Congress  any 
legislative  power  that  could  tamper  with  the  Or- 
dinance, or  provide  for  governing  Territories  by 
direct  Congressional  interference. 

The  practical  construction  put  upon  it  by  the 
first  Congress  of  the  United  States  under  the 
Constitution,  was  that  it  was  unalterable.  There 
were  but  two  powers  reserved  to  Congress  by  the 
Ordinance ;  one  of  them — the  appointing  power — 
being  executive  in  its  nature,  and  the  other — the 
designation  of  States  north  of  the  latitude  of  the 
southern  point  of  Lake  Michigan — being  one  of 
those  mixed  .  powers  which  may  be  exercised  by 
legislatures  themselves,  or  delegated.  By  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  the  appointing  power 
was  made  executive   entirely;    and    the    power    of 


452 


SOUTHERN    BOUNDARY.  [Chap.  XIV. 


admitting  States  was  left  Congressional.  Instead 
of  remodelling  this  Ordinance,  the  Congress  of 
1 789  adopted  this  preamble  :  "  Whereas,  in  order 
that  the  Ordinance  of  the  United  States  in  Con- 
gress assembled,  for  the  government  of  the  Ter- 
ritory Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,  may  continue 
to  have  full  effect,  it  is  requisite  that  certain  pro- 
visions should  be  made,  so  as  to  adapt  the  same 
to  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
"  Be  it  enacted,"  etc.  The  change  made  was  in 
transferring  the  executive  functions  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  Senate,  who  under  the  Constitution  had 
succeeded  to  that  branch  of  the  old  powers  of 
Congress.  It  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  the 
compact  against  change  did  not  cover  any  but  six 
specified  articles  of  the  Ordinance. 

No  subsequent  act  of  Congress  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Territories,  outside  of  the  lands  owned 
before  the  Constitution,  has  ever  contained  com- 
pacts beyond  the  recall  of  Congress  ;  and  it  may 
be  doubtful  whether  Congress  could  so  stipulate. 
But  no  such  doubt  can  exist  concerning  the  Con- 
gress of  the  Confederation  ;  and  the  Congress  of 
1789  evidently  intended  to  respect  their  agree- 
ments. 

The  east  and  west  line  which  was  named  in 
the  Ordinance,  was  adopted  without  qualification. 
The  suggestion  of  Mr.  Binney  that  it  was  in- 
definite,  because  it  has  no  named  terminus,  would 
hardly  have  been  made  on  sober  reflection.  It  is 
as    definite    as    any  boundary  line  could  be    made 


Chap.  XIV.]  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  453 

for  dividing  northern  from  southern  jurisdiction ; 
and  is  simply  a  parallel  of  latitude,  which  extends 
wherever  there  is  any  territory  to  'bound.  It  is  a 
mere  assumption  to  claim  that  the  Congress  of 
1787  laid  it  out  under  a  mistake,  or  intended 
to  give  the  eastern  State  the  entire  southern  shore 
of  Lake  Erie,  or  any  specific  part  of  it.  It  gave 
no  lake  privileges  to  either  of  the  two  others, 
which  were  quite  as  worthy  of  consideration.  It 
is  definite,  and  is  not  ambiguous.  In  a  private 
contract  no  court  could  find  it  open  to  construction. 

Whether  Congress  now  has  the  abstract  power 
to  disregard  and  change  such  a  stipulation,  has 
ceased  to  be  a  practical  question.  In  the  case  of 
the  southern  boundary  of  Michigan,  it  required 
the  consent  of  the  State  to  the  change  before 
admitting  it,  and  thus  precluded  the  discussion  of 
the  question  before  the  courts.  The  main  question 
at  issue  in  1835  was  whether  such  a  change  had 
been  attempted,  and  whether,  if  attempted,  valid 
or  invalid,  it  was  in  accordance  with  good  faith. 
A  nation  may  do  many  things  lawfully  which  she 
cannot  do  honestly. 

When  the  County  of  Wayne  was  first  laid  out, 
in  1796,  it  included  all  the  disputed  territory,  and 
its  southern  line  extended  to  the  Cuyahoga  River. 
When  it  was  proposed  to  create  the  State  of 
Ohio,  this  county  was  not  consulted  in  the  first 
instance  ;  and  if  Judge  Burnet  is  correct,  the  State 
was  formed  below  the  east  and  west  line  of  the 
Ordinance    for    the    very    purpose    of    excluding 


454 


SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  [Chap.  XIV. 


Wayne  County,  for  fear  it  would  change  the 
political  character  intended  to  be  given  to  the 
new  State.  By  the  act  of  Congress,  which  pur- 
ported to  give  all  inhabitants  a  right  to  vote  for 
delegates  to  a  convention,  no  one  in  Wayne 
County  was  allowed  to  vote,  either  in  his  own 
county  or  in  any  other  district.  It  had  not  been 
ascertained  that  the  territory  included  had  60,000 
people,  and  the  law  allowing  a  State  to  be  formed 
was  matter  of  favor  and  not  of  right.  The 
statute  assumed  the  precise  boundary  of  the 
Ordinance,  until  it  struck  Lake  Erie,  or  the 
national  boundary  line.  The  delegates  were  elected 
to  do  precisely  what  this  act  called  for ;  and  their 
action  was  not  referred  back  to  the  people  for 
ratification.  The  act  of  Congress  reserved  the 
right  to  annex  the  country  north  of  the  line  and 
of  Ohio,  to  that  State,  or  to  organize  one  or  more 
States  there  according  to  the  Ordinance.  No 
power  was  given  to  the  Ohio  convention  to  change 
the  lines.  That  convention,  however,  having 
learned  that  the  line  mentioned  in  the  Ordinance 
might  probably  run  further  south  than  was  supposed, 
passed  a  resolution  providing  that,  with  the  assent 
of  Congress,  the  line  should  in  that  case  be  drawn 
from  the  south  point  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the 
north  entrance  cape  of  Maumee  Bay. 

No  act  or  resolution  was  passed  by  Congress, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  admitting  the  State,  or 
approving  its  constitution.  The  members  were 
allowed  their  seats  in    the    two  houses,  like    those 


Chap.  XIV.]  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  455 

from  other  States ;  and  the  only  laws  passed  as- 
sumed that  the  State  had  already  become  one  of 
the  United  States  by  the  act  of  its  convention 
alone,  under  the  terms  of  the  enabling  act  of  1802. 

When  Michigan  was  organized  as  a  Territory, 
the  line  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  and  not  that 
recommended  by  the  Ohio  convention,  was  adopted 
as  the  southern  boundary.  This  wast  just  two 
years  after  Ohio  was  admitted,  and  when  her  sen- 
ators and  representatives  were  able  to  represent 
her  interests  in  Congress.  Either  they  did  not 
oppose  the  line,  or  their  opposition  was  overruled. 
It  is  evident  the  Ordinance  was  still  regarded  as 
sacred. 

This  is  all  of  the  legislation  of  Congress  re- 
cognizing or  establishing  boundaries.  The  debates 
in  Congress  in  1834  and  1835,  as  well  as  after  the 
formation  of  the  Constitution  of  Michigan,  were 
very  full,  and  several  reports  were  made.  It  was 
held  with  almost  absolute  unanimity,  that  the  dis- 
puted territory  belonged  to  Michigan,  until  Con- 
gress should  legislate  further.  Mr.  Adams  and 
others  held  the  Ordinance  was  irrevocable,  and  be- 
yond the  power  of  Congress  at  all.  Others, 
holding  that  Congress  had  power  to  give  the  land 
to  Ohio,  thought  it  policy  to  so  grant  it.  Every 
one  felt  that  unless  Michigan  consented,  there  was 
room  for  legal  controversy.  A  Territory  could 
not  sue  or  be  sued  in  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court.  A  State  could  sue  another  State  there ; 
and  it  had    been    held    in    the  very  recent  contro- 


456  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  [Chap.  XIV. 

versy  between  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  as  it 
has  been  several  times  since,  that  boundary  ques- 
tions could  be  so  litigated.  It  was  only  by  acting 
before  Michigan  became  a  State,  and  by  keeping 
her  out  until  she  surrendered  her  claims,  that  the 
matter  could  be  put  beyond  doubt.  Indiana  and 
Illinois  were  as  much  interested  as  Ohio  in  fore- 
closing this  future  litigation  ;  and  Michigan  was 
coerced  into  either  giving  up  her  claim,  or  being 
left  where  she  could  never  litigate  it.  How  this 
was  done  will  appear  presently. 

If  Congress  lawfully  possessed  the  power  to 
change  the  boundaries,  its  decision  would  have 
been  binding,  although  in  violation  of  a  very 
solemn  contract.  Had  it  been  made  without  the 
extorted  consent  of  Michigan,  the  question  of 
Congressional  right  could  have  been  settled  by 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  This  would 
have  lessened  the  temporary  excitement.  Ohio 
was  not  willing  to  leave  open  her  present  right, 
or  her  right  under  such  legislation  ;  but,  with  In- 
diana and  Illinois,  desired  to  have  it  foreclosed 
by  some  act  which  would  bind  Michigan  at  all 
events. 

The  equities  of  Ohio  to  have  the  line  changed 
were  placed  by  that  State,  or  its  Governor,  chiefly 
on  three  grounds,  viz :  the  intent  of  the  Congress 
of  1787  to  follow  the  supposed  line,  which  was 
further  north  than  the  real  one ;  the  action  of 
the  State  constitutional  convention ;  and  the  pre- 
ference of  the  people  within  the  district. 


Chap.  XIV.]  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY. 


457 


The  last  point,  if  true,  could  hardly  be  regard- 
ed. The  country  had  been  settled,  and  its  settle- 
ment made  possible  and  facilitated,  entirely  under 
Michigan  law ;  and  the.  new  preferences,  if  they 
existed,  were  very  recent,  and  were  created  by 
the  promise  of  improvements,  coming  from 
Indiana,  which,  if  important  enough,  would  sooner 
or  later  have  been  made  necessary  under  any 
circumstances.  But  if  the  inhabitants  of  any  por- 
tion of  a  State  or  Territory  are  entitled  to  have 
their  wishes  for  a  change  of  allegiance  respected, 
there  would  soon  be  an  end  to  governmrents. 

If  there  was  a  mistake  concerning  the  real 
position  of  the  southerly  point  of  Lake  Michigan, 
no  one  knows  just  where  it  was  supposed  to  be 
or  who  made  it.  The  pencil  line  on  a  map  said 
to  have  been  before  the  committee  of  Congress 
— although  the  map  has  never  been  verified,  and 
the  story  is  somewhat  apocryphal, —  is  said  at 
the  same  time  to  have  thrown  the  line  a  little 
below  t Detroit,  and  far  to  the  north  of  the  Mau- 
mee.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Congress  paid 
any  attention  to  this  question,  or  cared  where  the 
line  fell;  inasmuch  as  it  was  subject  to  their 
future  discretion  whether  to  run  the  line  at  all  or 
not.  It  was  not  the  wish  of  the  people  of  Mich- 
igan in  1802  to  be  separated  from  Ohio.  It  was 
known  they  would  have  voted  against  this  ;  and 
when  they  were  separated,  it  was  on  the  basis 
that  all  of  Wayne  County  should  be  cut  off  from 
a  voice  or  interest  in  the  new  State.     If  the  Con- 


458  SOUTHERN    BOUNDARY.  [Chap.  XIV. 

gress  of  1802  examined  into  the  matter  at  all  of 
the  location  of  the  line,  it  is  quite  as  likely,  and 
more  consistent  with  honesty,  that  they  meant  to 
follow  the  then  existing  lines  of  Wayne  County, 
as  that  they  meant  to  cut  off  a  portion  of  it 
without  giving  the  people  a  right  assured  to  every 
other  inhabitant  of  the  country  set  apart  as  Ohio. 
Wayne  County  was  very  well  known  to  cover 
this  land. 

What  map  was  supposed  to  have  been  before 
the  Congressional  committee  is  not  known. 
There  were  undoubtedly  maps  then  extant  which 
did  not  place  Lake  Michigan  as  far  to  the  south- 
ward as  it  really  ran.  But  there  were  others 
that  did.  If  it  had  been  deemed  essential,  some 
care  would  probably  have  been  taken  to  find  out 
the  latitude.  The  French  explorers  often  gave 
the  result  of  their  observations  with  accuracy,  but 
their  maps  are  not  uniform,  and  very  few  maps 
of  that  period  were  carefully  protracted.  D'An- 
ville's  map  places  the  south  end  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan below  any  part  of  Lake  Erie.  Some  of  the 
French  and  English  maps  bring  it  so  far  east  as 
to  strike  the  line  between  Ohio  and  Indiana. 
The  map  in  Parkman's  "  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac " 
is  substantially  accurate,  in  regard  to  the  relative 
positions  of  the  two  lakes.  It  is  not  stated  from 
what  that  was  copied.  It  may  be  modern,  but  if 
so  it  is  not  drawn  from  modern  sources  in  many 
respects,  and  in  some  is  very  inaccurate.  It  is 
probable  that  in  the  one  particular  of  making  the 


Chap.  XIV.]  SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY.  459 

point  of  Lake  Michigan  north  of  the  Maumee 
Rapids,  the  preponderance  in  number  exists  in 
favor  of  it  among  the  maps  then  in  vogue.  But 
where  this  is  so,  they  do  not  even  approach  an 
agreement  as  to  the  real  line.  And  it  is  not 
asserted  that  the  Ohio  convention  of  1802  acted 
on  any  map  or  upon  any  other  definite  informa- 
tion, in  desiring  Congress  to  change  the  line. 
They  proceeded  on  the  statement  of  a  man  who 
was  no  surveyor.  The  equity  is  a  very  slight 
one,  at  best,  that  hangs  on  such  a  support,  and 
the  evidence  is  not  clear  even  as  to  that. 

As  to  the  action  of  the  convention  of  1802, 
its  force  is  the  other  way,  for  they  knew  the  line 
must  be  changed,  if  made  to  suit  them,  and  Con- 
gress never  changed  it,  but  at  several  different 
periods  acted  adversely.  The  organization  of 
Michigan,  in  1805,  was  upon  the  expressed  theory 
that  the  line  was  at  all  events  to  run  east  from 
the  point  of  Lake  Michigan.  In  1807,  Governor 
Hull  procured  from  the  Indians  a  grant  of  right 
of  way  for  a  road  from  the  foot  of  the  Miami 
Rapids  to  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  for  the 
expressed  purpose  of  connecting  the  Ohio  and 
Michigan  settlements.  In  181 2,  Congress  required 
the  Michigan  line  to  be  run  on  the  parallel  of 
the  south  point  of  Lake  Michigan.  Applications 
were  made  to  Congress  on  behalf  of  the  more 
northern  line  as  desired  by  Ohio,  repeatedly 
through  a  period  of  several  years,  and  were  never 
acceded  to.     Ohio   never    attempted    to    claim    by 


460  SOUTHERN    BOUNDARY.  [Chap.  XIV. 

practical  steps  that  the  line  was  already  as  she 
desired,  until  Michigan  was  about  becoming  a 
State ;  when  Governor  Lucas  took  the  measures 
already  alluded  to,  under  pretexts  of  title. 

The  action  of  Governor  Mason  and  the  Mich- 
igan Council  was  no  more  than  every  civilized 
government  is  bound  to  exercise,  when  her  peace- 
able possession  under  the  law  of  the  land  is 
suddenly  invaded.  The  United  States  laws,  as 
well  as  the  Territorial  laws,  had  defined  the  Terri- 
torial jurisdiction  ;  .and  the  Territory  was  in  posses- 
sion, —  not  recently  asserted  but  long  undisturbed. 
The  civil  officers  had  no  right  to  abdicate  their 
powers  ;  and  neither  the  Governor  nor  the  Presi- 
dent, both  of  whom  were  the  servants  of  the  law, 
could  have  relieved  those  officers  from  liability  for 
neglecting  the  duties  which  the  law  laid  on  them. 
No  Michigan  officer  ever  attempted  to  surrender 
the  authority  of  the  Territory.  Had  he  done  so 
he  could  have  bound  no  one.  There  is  no  likeli- 
hood that  Commissioners  Rush  and  Howard  made 
any  such  attempt.  If  they  had  attempted  it,  their 
action  would  also  have  been  nugatory ;  and  every 
one  of  common  sense  must  have  known  it  to  be 
so.  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  power 
to  remove  governors  of  Territories,  and  may  thus 
indirectly  secure  such  action  as  men  who  choose 
to  abdicate  their  manhood  may  take  to  please  him. 
But  neither  he  nor  his  appointees  could  lawfully 
interfere  to  change  or  suspend  the  laws  of  the 
Territory ;    and  General  Jackson  is  not   shown    to 


Chap.  XIV.]  CONDUCT   OF   MICHIGAN.  461 

have  asserted  any  such  power.  It  is  not  within 
the  constitutional  power  of  any  State  to  set  on 
foot  a  war  of  invasion  ;  and  acts  of  violence  done 
beyond  the  State  by  any  one  would  be  in  law 
mere  private  misdeeds,  which  would  be  punishable 
in  the  same  way,  whether  authorized  or  disavowed 
by  the  State.  The  opinion  of  Mr.  Butler,  and  of 
the  United  States  executive,  was  in  harmony  with 
these  principles.  While  a  nation  may,  perhaps, 
by  avowing  an  act  of  its  officers  abroad,  cover 
them  from  personal  responsibility  and  put  itself 
in  their  stead,  a  State  of  the  Union  has  no  extra- 
territorial functions,  and  cannot  justify  others  in 
doing  wrongful  acts  elsewhere. 

It  is  probable  that,  in  the  excitement  of  the 
times,  those  Michigan  officers  who  performed 
their  functions  in  the  disputed  territory,  were  not 
always  careful  to  measure  their  conduct  by  line 
and  plummet  ;•  and  abuses  may  have  been  com- 
mitted under  color  of  law.  This,  though  not 
justifiable,  was,  in  view  of  the  natural  infirmity  of 
human  dispositions,  a  consequence  easily  foreseen  ; 
and  it  resulted  from  the  provocation  and  resistance. 
Although  a  defendant  who  justifies  an  assault  by 
pleading  against  his  adversary  son  assault  demesne 
(his  own  assault,)  usually  sets  up  for  himself  that 
he  thereupon  softly  laid  hands  on  him,  (molliter 
manus  imposuit,)  yet  a  jury  generally  finds  that 
any  laying  on  of  hands  not  grossly  in  excess  of 
what  would  suffice  for  self-protection,  is  soft 
enough  to  satisfy  the  conscience.     The  alia  enormia, 


462 


CONSTITUTION   ADOPTED.  [Chap.  XIV. 


— the  filling  in  or  aggravation  of  the  charges, — 
in  cases  of  border  violence,  is  not  usually  regarded 
as  putting  the  offended — and  in  turn  offending — 
power  in  the  wrong  upon  the  main  question. 

But  after  the  lapse  of  forty  years,  and  the 
growth  of  many  friendly  relations,  it  is  not 
unpleasant  to  remember  that  the  only  lives  lost 
were  those  of  two  horses,  one  on  either  side,  one 
— according  to  tradition — an  Ohio  steed  slain  by 
General  Stickney  by  mistake,  and  one  lost  in 
some  unknown  way,  for  which  the  State  of  Mich- 
igan paid  Mr.  Bailey.  A  sheriff's  officer  who  was 
stabbed  by  Two  Stickney  recovered  in  due  course 
of  time ;  and  those  who  suffered  other  griefs  have 
probably  been  sufficiently  repaid  by  the  serene 
consciousness  of  having  some  personal  adventures 
to  talk  about. 

The  Constitutional  Convention  met  at  Detroit, 
on  the  second  Monday  in  May,  r835,  and  after 
a  patient  session,  submitted  a  Constitution  for 
the  popular  approval,  which  became  operative  by 
adoption.  An  election  was  called  for  the  first 
Monday  in  October,  1835,  to  vote  upon  the  Con- 
stitution, and  to  elect  a  Governor,  Lieutenant 
Governor,  Members  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
a  Representative  in  Congress,  all  to  become  enti- 
tled to  their  offices  in  case  the  Constitution  should 
be  ratified.  The  first  Legislature  was  to  meet  on 
the  first  Monday  of  November. 

This  Constitution  contained  the  usual  bill  of 
rights.     Its  only  peculiar  political  feature  was  that 


Chap.  XIV.]  CONSTITUTION  463 

it  gave  the  right  of  voting  to  all  free  adult  white 
male  inhabitants  who  were  residents  of  Michigan 
when  the  Constitution  was  signed,  whether  citizens 
of  the  United  States  or  not.  This  provision, 
(which  had  no  permanent  importance,  because  all 
voters  would  soon  be  otherwise  qualified  for 
naturalization)  was  a  difficulty  urged  with  some 
force  in  Congress,  against  the  validity  of  the 
Constitution,  as  interfering  with  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  however  to  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  Ordinance  of  1787  did  not  require 
voters  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States.  At 
that  time  each  State  had  its  own  naturalization 
laws;  and  two  years'  residence  in  the  Territory 
made  one  a  voter,  if  otherwise  qualified.  The 
action  was,  therefore,  not  entirely  without  prece- 
dent, and  was  necessary  to  prevent  the  dis- 
franchisement of  those  who  had  been  allowed  to 
vote  for  the  delegates  who  sat  in  the  convention. 

The  Legislature  consisted  of  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  over  whose  acts  the 
Governor  had  a  veto  power  corresponding  to  that 
of  the  President.  The  Governor  and  Lieutenant 
Governor  were  to  be  elected  for  terms  of  two 
years,  and  the  executive  power  was  vested,  as  by 
the  United  States  Constitution,  in  the  Governor, 
or  in  the  Governor  and  Senate.  The  courts 
were  to  consist  of  one  Supreme  Court,  and  such 
inferior  courts  as  the  Legislature  should  ordain  ; 
except  that  express  provision  was  made  for 
courts    of    probate    and    justices     of     the    peace. 


464 


CONSTITUTION.  [Chap.  XIV 


Cabinet  officers,  and  all  other  State  officers,  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  and  Senate. 
County  and  town  officers,  judicial  as  well  as  min- 
isterial, were  made  elective.  Education  was  to  be 
supported  and  encouraged,  a  university  and 
schools  maintained,  and  the  university  and  school 
lands  and  their  proceeds,  and  all  other  funds 
obtained  for  similar  purposes,  were  to  be  kept 
inviolate.  A  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
was  also  provided  for, — judges  and  State  officers 
were  subject  to  impeachment  for  criminal  and 
corrupt  conduct;  and  judges  could  be  removed 
on  the  address  of  two  thirds  of  each  branch  of 
the  Legislature.  Other  offices  were  subject  to 
removal  as  might  be  enacted.  Slavery  and  invol- 
untary servitude  were  forbidden  except  on  con- 
viction of  crime.  Internal  improvements  of  all 
kinds  were  to  be  encouraged  by  the  State.  Acts 
of  incorporation  could  only  be  passed  by  two 
thirds  of  the  Legislature. 

This  Constitution  was  very  simple,  and  very 
much  better  adapted  to  the  changing  necessities 
of  a  growing  State  than  the  present  one.  While 
it  restrained  such  abuses  as  it  was  thought  would 
be  most  dangerous,  it  left  to  the  Legislature 
broad  discretion.  All  who  have  had  much  to  do  with 
studying  and  construing  the  two  instruments,  have 
discovered  that,  while  a  few  restrictions  concerning 
finances  and  internal  improvements  have  been 
found  beneficial  and  necessary, — the  bulk  of  the 
special  legislation  contained  in  the  Constitution  of 


Chap.  XIV.]  MASON  SUPERSEDED. 


465 


1850  has  been  a  hindrance,  and  not  an  advantage. 
In  a  republican  government  it  must  be  assumed 
that  the  popular  representatives  in  the  Legislature 
will  act  usually  with  honest  motives  and  reasonable 
prudence ;  and  while  some  things  should  not  be 
allowed  under  any  circumstances,  and  others  re- 
quire checks,  yet  all  which  is  subject  to  be  changed 
by  time  and  changing  events,  ought  in  general  to 
be  within  legislative  discretion. 

The  Constitution  was  ratified,  and  Stevens  T. 
Mason  was  elected  Governor,  and  Edward  Mundy 
Lieutenant  Governor.  Isaac  E.  Crary  was  elected 
Representative  in  Congress. 

Before  this  election,  in  August,  1835,  the  Globe 
contained  the  following :  "  Appointment  by  the 
President.  Charles  Shaler,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be 
Secretary  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  vice 
Stevens  T.  Mason,  superseded."  This  was  followed 
by  a  long  article  in  which  it  was  set  forth  that 
Mr.  Mason  had  disregarded  the  President's  wishes, 
and  the  peaceful  arrangements  which  had  been 
made  concerning  the  territorial  disputes  with  Ohio. 
As  Congress  had  not  acted  upon  the  subject,  it 
is  questionable  how  far  the  President  had  any 
right  to  interpose  with  his  wishes.  He  had,  how- 
ever, the  right  to  remove  the  Secretary.  Judge 
Shaler  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  appointed 
Governor,  if  that  appointment  could  have  been 
made  during  the  recess.  He  was  personally  an 
excellent  selection,  but  he  did  not  covet  the  office 
under  existing  circumstances.  It  was  Judge 
30 


466  SECRETARY   HORNER.  [Chap.  XIV. 

Shaler,  —  then  a  young  man,  who  volunteered  to 
carry  from  Cleveland  to  General  Hull  the  news 
of  the  declaration  of  war ;  which  he  did  with  enter- 
prise and  rapidity,  through  difficulties  ;  and,  having 
overtaken  the  army  between  the  Maumee  and 
the  Raisin,  he  was  compelled  to  remain  in  Detroit 
until  the  surrender.  He  was  a  gentleman  who 
would  have  commanded  respect  and  esteem  from 
the  people,  whatever  they  might  have  thought  of 
his    authority ;    but    he    declined    the  appointment. 

On  the  15th  of  September,  the  official  journal 
contained,  with  some  editorial  answers  to  eastern 
newspaper  criticisms  on  the  course  of  the  Presi- 
dent, the  following  appointment.  "  John  S.  Horner, 
of  Virginia,  Secretary  of  the  Territory  of  Michi- 
gan, Charles  Shaler  having  declined  the  appoint- 
ment. We  learn  that  Mr.  Horner  has  accepted 
the  above  mentioned  appointment,  and  that  he  is 
now  on  his  way  to  Detroit."  On  the  16th  of 
September,  the  Cleveland  Whig,  announcing  that 
Mr.  Horner  had  that  morning  left  for  Detroit, 
adds  that  it  is  prepared  to  hear  that  the  people 
of  Michigan  utterly  contemn  the  authority  of  the 
new  Governor,  so  far  as  his  policy  may  differ 
essentially  from  that  pursued  by    Mr.   Mason. 

Mr.  Horner  arrived  in  Michigan  when  troubles 
on  the  frontier  had  temporarily  revived,  and  just 
after  the  troops  had  been  sent  down  for  the  last 
time  to  Toledo.  The  elections  were  to  come  off 
in  a  fortnight,  and  in  about  six  weeks  the  State 
government  would  be    organized.       He    interfered 


Chap.  XIV.]  SECRETARV   HORNER'S  WELCOME. 


467 


with  what  had  been  done  in  the  courts,  by  par- 
doning everybody  but  Two  Stickney.  He  had 
come  out  with  distinct  notions  that  he  had  a 
mission  to  perform,  but  found  no  one  who  would 
co-operate  with  him.  It  is  believed  that  a  very 
upright  and  estimable  gentleman  of  the  bar 
recognized  him  officially  so  far  as  to  accept  a 
commission  of  notary  public.  But  his  executive 
labors  were  very  solitary,  and  the  people  began 
to  show  signs  of  disapprobation.  On  the  1 2th 
of  July,  1835,  ne  addressed  a  meeting  at  the 
Detroit  City  Hall,  giving  his  views  and  intentions 
at  length,  and  apparently  with  some  degree  of 
self-assertion.  After  he  had  concluded  his  speech, 
the  meeting  organized,  and  several  resolutions 
were  adopted,  among  which  was  the  following  : 
(Jacob  M.  Howard,  who  in  those  days  was 
lieutenant  in  the  Detroit  City  Guards,  and  in  that 
capacity  had  gone  to  Toledo  armed  and  equipped 
with  sword  and  pistols,  was  already  known  to 
fame  as  a  man  of  powerful  intellect  and  strong 
convictions ;  and  from  the  style  and  tone  of  this 
resolution,  it  would  not  be  hazarding  much  to 
conjecture  that  "  the  voice  was  Jacob's  voice.") 

"  Resolved,  that  if  our  present  Secretary  of  the 
Territory  should  find  it  beyond  his  control,  either 
from  the  nature  of  his  instructions,  his  feelings  of 
tenderness  towards  those  who  had  for  a  long 
period  of  time  set  at  defiance  as  well  the  laws  of 
the  Territory  as  those  of  the  United  States,  or 
any    feelings    of   delicacy   entertained  towards    the 


468  SECRETARY   HORNER'S  MISADVENTURES.      [Chap.  XIV 

executive  of  a  neighboring  State,  who  has  in  vain 
endeavored  to  take  a  forcible  possession  of  a  part 
of  our  territory,  to  enable  him  to  properly  carry 
into  effect  the  existing  laws  of  this  Territory,  it  is 
to  be  hoped  he  will  relinquish  the  duties  of  his 
office,  and  return  to  the  land  of  his  nativity." 

Mr.  Horner  was  a  gentleman  of  excellent 
character,  and  not  wanting  in  ability.  But  he 
magnified  his  office,  under  the  favor  and  encourage- 
ment of  General  Jackson,  who  had  found  the  place 
was  not  much  sought  after ;  and  the  Secretary 
was  rather  more  peremptory  and  assuming  than 
the  people  were  accustomed  to  find  their  public 
officers,  and  more  dictatorial  than  they  were  dis- 
posed to  submit  to.  The  result  was  that  neither 
judiciary  nor  ministerial  officers  paid  any  respect 
to  him,  —  he  met  wit!}  very  little  private  civility 
or  attention,  —  and  in  some  instances  he  was 
treated  with  active  discourtesy,  which  sometimes 
took  a  form  which  was  not  generally  approved. 
In  Ypsilanti  a  disorderly  concourse  pelted  the 
windows  of  his  tavern  lodgings,  so  that  he  re- 
sorted to  a  safe  place  to  sleep  on  the  floor ;  and 
it  is  said  that  the  landlord  charged  in  his  bill 
the  damages  caused  by  the  lapidation.  It  was 
generally  thought,  however,  that  until  the  State 
became  organized,  his  position  should  secure  him 
against  insults  not  provoked  by  adequate  cause  ; 
and  while  he  did  not  as  Secretary  receive  the 
friendly  civilities  which  his  private  character  would 
have  secured  to  him  as  a  private  citizen,   he    was 


Chap.  XIV.]  ELECTION  OF  SENATORS.  469 

not  otherwise  molested.  After  the  State  officers 
assumed  their  functions,  General  Jackson  directed 
him  not  to  recognize  them.  The  result  of  this 
was  that  he  soon  found  it  pleasant  to  remove  to 
that  part  of  the  former  Territory  of  Michigan 
over  which  no  State  government  had  been 
asserted.  He  settled  in  Wisconsin,  where  he  has 
always  been  respected  for  his  personal  worth 
and  many  virtues.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted 
that  so  worthy  a  gentleman  was  put  into  a  false 
position,  which  exposed  him  to  many  difficulties, 
and  some  indignities.  I 

The  Legislature  met  on  the  first  Monday  of 
November,  1835.  On  the  10th  of  November,  a 
rule  was  adopted  for  the  election  of  Senators, 
providing  for  a  separate  election  by  the  two 
houses,  and  in  case  of  disagreement,  for  an  elec- 
tion in  joint  convention.  Lucius  Lyon  was  elected 
unanimously  in  each  house.  Major  John  Biddle 
received  a  majority  of  four  in  the  Senate,  and 
John  Norvell  a  majority  of  seven  in  the  House. 
Mr.  Norvell  was  thereupon  elected  on  joint 
ballot,  and  he  and  Mr.  Lyon  were  the  first 
Senators  of  the  new  State.  George  W.  Jones, 
residing  in  Wisconsin,  was  elected  Territorial 
Delegate, — the  Territory  of  Michigan  extending 
beyond  the  State,  and  therefore  continuing. 

The  Constitution  provided  for  the  continuance 
of  Territorial  officers  until  superseded.  The  or- 
ganization of  State  courts  was  postponed  until 
July,   1836,  as  the  Territorial  judges  were  entirely 


470  MICHIGAN  KEPT  OUT  OF  THE  UNION.        [Chap.  XIV. 

satisfactory,  and  therefore  time  was  desirable  to 
mature  a  judicial  system.  After  a  short  session 
the  Legislature  adjourned  until  January,  hoping 
that  by  that  time    the   State    would    be    admitted. 

The  admission,  however,  met  with  violent 
opposition.  The  principal  reasons  arose  out  of 
the  slavery  question.  The  States  interested  in 
the  southern  boundary  of  Michigan,  which  the 
constitutional  convention  had  re-asserted  by  resolu- 
tion, opposed  it  on  that  ground,  although  the 
matter  would  by  the  admission  into  the  Union 
have  become  subject  to  settlement  in  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court ;  where  Michigan  had  desired 
to  take  it,  and  had  passed  resolutions  to  that 
end,  to  have  a  speedy  suit  to  settle  the  boundaries. 
Arkansas  had  been  taking  preliminary  steps  for 
admission,  and  it  was  known  there  might  be  some 
objections  to  it  on  account  of  extreme  provisions 
for  the  protection  of  slavery,  which  it  was  expected 
would  be  inserted,  and  which  were  inserted,  in  its 
constitution.  There  was  a  determination  in  each 
extreme  of  the  Union  not  to  allow  one  State  to 
come  in  without  the  admission  of  the  other  as  a 
counterpoise.  As  some  of  the  reasons  acted  upon 
were  not  such  as  it  would  seem  quite  desirable 
to  set  up  openly,  various  pretexts  and  grounds 
were  advanced, — some  no  doubt  from  conviction — 
others  with  as  little  doubt  for  effect.  A  primary 
difficulty  raised  against  both  States,  was  that 
Congress  had  not  authorized  the  holding  of  con- 
stitutional conventions.     This  was  not  true    in  re- 


Chap.  XIV.]  DEBATES   IN   CONGRESS.  471 

gard  to  Michigan; — for  the  Ordinance  of  1787, — 
reasserted  when  the  Territory  was  organized, — 
provided  expressly  for  the  formation  of  a  State 
as  soon  as  the  free  population  reached  sixty 
thousand.  The  application  for  Arkansas  was  made 
in  February,  1836;  and  thereafter  it  was  for  some 
time,  in  reality,  a  contest  on  the  slavery  question, 
while  in  form  it  was  mainly  a  discussion  of  the 
right  to  call  conventions  without  the  previous  assent 
of  Congress.  But  so  far  as  Michigan  was  con- 
cerned, political  reasons  of  a  pressing,  if  not  very 
fair,  character,  rendered  it  an  object  to  conciliate 
the  neighboring  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  in  view  of  an  approaching  Presidential 
election.  Some  members  were  also  impressed 
with  a  notion  that,  although  Michigan  had  explicitly 
desired  to  seek  a  judicial  determination  of  her 
boundaries,  there  was  danger  of  bloodshed  from 
Illinois,  and  possibly  elsewhere,  unless  Congress 
interfered.  Committees  reported  in  favor  of  giving 
Ohio  the  line  she  asked,  and  of  confirming  the 
boundaries  possessed  by  Indiana  and  Illinois ; 
while,  to  prevent  future  litigation  concerning  the 
binding  character  of  the  compact  of  1787,  they 
proposed  to  compel  Michigan  to  wait  for  admis- 
sion until  she  conceded  those  boundaries. 

Colonel  Benton,  in  his  "  Thirty  Years'  View," 
—  while  passing  over  the  boundary  question  as 
one  which,  when  he  wrote,  had  ceased  to  be  im- 
portant, —  narrates  very  fully  the  course  of  the 
contest  in   1835-6  over  the    admission    of  the   two 


472  CONDITIONS  IMPOSED. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


States.  The  debates  were  unprecedented  for  ob- 
stinacy,— the  last  session  in  committee  having  con- 
tinued twenty-five  hours,  and  the  real  purposes 
of  the  contestants  not  having  been  plainly  avowed. 
There  was  not  only  a  desire  to  keep  off  the  final 
vote,  but  a  contest  of  priority  between  the  bills ; 
and  this  grew  chiefly  out  of  the  slavery  dispute. 
The  Michigan  bill  got  the  preference,  and  was 
passed  first  by  a  large  vote ;  and  the  vote  on  the 
admission  of  Arkansas  was  nearly  the  same.  The 
opposition  on  the  final  vote  in  each  case  was  in- 
dependent of  party ;  and  the  contest  throughout 
was  on  other  than   party  grounds. 

The  acts  for  the  admission  of  both  States  were 
thus  passed  and  signed  together,  on  the  15th  of 
June,  1836.  But  they  were  left  in  very  different 
positions.  Arkansas  was  received  into  the  Union  at 
once  and  unconditionally.  Michigan  was  not  to  be 
received  except  with  the  southern  boundary  claimed 
by  Indiana  and  desired  by  Ohio.  The  Upper  Pen- 
insula east  of  Montreal  River,  and  the  American 
part  of  Lake  Superior  from  that  point  to  the 
northwestern  national  boundary  line,  were  thrown 
in  as  a  sort  of  compensation  for  the  land  taken 
off  at  the  south.  Until  the  new  boundary  line  was 
adopted  by  a  convention  of  delegates  elected  for 
that  purpose,  by  the  people  of  Michigan,  she  was 
not  to  be  admitted  at  all. 

There  was  much  ingenuity  in  the  scheme 
devised  to  secure  this  consent.  It  was  known 
that    the    people    of    the    State    were    largely    in 


Chap.  XIV.]  MOTIVES   FOR  ADMISSION.  473 

favor  of  admission,  and  equally  sure  that  they 
were  unanimously  opposed  to  any  boundary  con- 
cessions until  the  right  received  judicial  determin- 
ation. If  admitted,  it  was  certain  the  electoral 
vote  would  be  cast  for  Mr.  Van  Buren.  The  act 
expressly  recognized  the  election  of  United  States 
Senators  and  Representative  as  valid,  and  the 
prevailing — though  not  unanimous — view  was  that 
under  the  Ordinance  the  Territory  had  become  a 
State,  but  a  State  awaiting  admission.  Wisconsin 
was  created  a  separate  Territory  from  and  after 
July  4th,  1836.  Michigan  had  meanwhile  organ- 
ized its  own  judiciary,  to  go  into  office  July  ist, 
1836.  The  Senators  and  Representative  were  of 
course  desirous  of  entering  upon  their  duties,  and 
the  ingenious  theory  had  been  propounded  that 
the  assent  of  a  convention  thus  obtained  would 
be  void  as  a  violation  of  the  State  Constitution, 
which  had  located  all  the  powers  of  government, 
and  had  not  recognized  any  such  body  as  a  con- 
vention. But  as  Congress  had  to  determine  on 
the  assent  as  a  political  question,  and  the  ques- 
tion of  admission  was  not  within  the  power  of 
the  people,  this  theory  was  not  regarded  as  ten- 
able for  any  practical  purpose,  whether  technically 
correct  or  not. 

The  popular  feeling  was  at  once  aroused,  and 
hostile.  An  effort  was  now  made  to  convert  the 
proposals  into  a  party  question,  which  succeeded 
partially,  but  not  completely.  There  had  been  no 
divisions  of  parties  before  on  any  of  these    ques- 


4  74 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT.  [Chap.  XIV. 


tions,  although  the  partisan  journals  had  been  a 
good  deal  at  variance.  The  Governor  called  an  ex- 
tra session  of  the  Legislature,  to  provide  for  a 
convention,  and  it  met  on  the  nth  of  July.  A 
public  dinner  had  taken  place  in  Detroit  on  the 
4th,  at  which  many  speeches  and  volunteer  toasts 
were  given  by  leading  politicians  of  both  parties, 
and  they  were  equally  earnest  in  their  expressions 
of  disgust.  The  Governor's  message  was  a  very 
able  and  fair  document,  in  which  he  submitted  the 
subject  as  one  which  must  after  all  be  decided  on 
as  one  of  policy ;  and  while  not  disposed  to  ac- 
quiesce, if  there  was  any  likelihood  of  a  better  de- 
cision in  the  future,  he  thought  it  might  perhaps 
be  found  inevitable.  The  Free  Press — the  organ 
of  the  Democratic  party — on  the  same  day  indi- 
cated less  disposition  than  the  Governor  to  make 
the  concession.  On  the  first  of  July,  1836,  the 
provisions  for  district  courts  and  other  United 
States  offices,  which  are  usually  passed  when 
States  are  admitted,  and  which  had  been  included 
in  the  body  of  the  act  admitting  Arkansas,  were 
enacted  separately;  but  with  a  proviso  that  this 
act  should  "  not  take  effect  until  the  State  of  Mich- 
igan shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union  according  to 
the  provisions  of  the  act  entitled  'An  Act  to  establish 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  to 
provide  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Michigan 
into  the  Union  on  certain  conditions!  '  It  should 
have  been  remarked  before,  that  this  had  fixed  the 
Ohio,  Indiana  and    Michigan  boundaries  positively 


Chap.  XIV.]  CONDITIONS   REJECTED.  475 

and  unconditionally,  the  conditions  only  applying 
to  the  admission  of  Michigan,  which  was  made  a 
subordinate  heading  of  the  bill.  Congress  ad- 
journed on  the  4th  of  July.  Under  the  settled 
rules  of  construction,  the  act  of  the  ist  of  July  was 
a  dead  letter  until  the  admission  of  the  State ;  and 
no  appointments  could  be  made  under  it  until 
then.  But  before  the  Senate  adjourned,  the  Pres- 
ident nominated,  and  the  Senate  confirmed,  Ross 
Wilkins  as  District  Judge,  Daniel  Goodwin  as  Dis- 
trict Attorney,  and  Conrad  Ten  Eyck  as  Marshal, 
with  the  proviso  that  their  commissions  should  not 
issue  until  the  admission  of  the  State  into  the 
Union.  As  a  judge  when  once  appointed  cannot 
be  removed  except  by  impeachment,  this  would 
have  raised  a  very  awkward  question,  if  the  con- 
sent of  Michigan  had  been  postponed  into  another 
administration ;  and  the  validity  of  such  an  ap- 
pointment made  before  there  was  any  law  in  force 
to  authorize  it  might  have  been  contested. 

The  Legislature  directed  an  election  for  a 
convention,  to  meet  in  Ann  Arbor,  on  the  4th 
Monday  of  September.  It  became  plain  to  every 
one  before  the  election  day  arrived,  that  the 
members  of  this  convention  would  reject  the  con- 
ditions. The  convention  refused  to  consent  to 
purchasing  admission  on  those  terms. 

•  An  attempt  was  now  made  to  unite  the  Dem- 
ocratic party,  in  favor  of  accepting  the  conditions, 
with  the  view  of  taking  such  measures  as  might 
then  be  ventured    on.      The    Washington    corres- 


476  PERSUASIVES.  [Chap.  XIV. 

pondents  figured  up  the  share  which  Michigan 
would  have  in  the  dividends  of  surplus  revenue, 
and  the  five  per  cent,  on  the  proceeds  of  public 
lands,  as  amounting  in  all  to  more  than  $450,000, 
all  of  which — the  President  found  occasion  to 
intimate  —  would  be  lost  to  Michigan  if  not 
admitted  on  the  first  of  January,  1837. — (This 
like  most  other  solemn  extra-official  utterances 
of  men  in  authority,  was  not  correct.)  Presiden- 
tial electors  were  to  be  chosen  in  November, 
under  an  act  of  the  State  Legislature  ;  and  their 
election  also  would  be  futile  without  admission. 
And  last  —  though  not  least  —  various  gentlemen 
willing  to  bear  official  responsibilities  would  be 
disappointed.  As  the  anonymous  Washington 
assurances  concerning  the  financial  loss  by  delay 
appear  to  have  been  regarded  as  of  doubtful 
origin,  an  official  letter  was  drawn  from  Mr. 
Woodbury,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  stating 
that  the  money  could  not  be  paid  to  Michigan 
before  her  admission,  but  not  making  the  first 
of  January  or  any  other  day  the  limit.  Informa- 
tion was  also  obtained  from  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
indicating  the  value  of  the  Upper  Peninsula. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  1836,  a  Democratic 
convention  of  Wayne  County  expressed  a  desire 
for  another  convention,  and  'this  was  followed  by 
a  similar  meeting  in  Washtenaw.  The  Governor, 
in  reply  to  a  request,  stated  there  was  no  time 
for  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  said 
he  had  no  authority  to  call  a  convention  ;  but   he 


Chap.  XIV. j  MICHIGAN  ADMITTED.  477 

referred  to  the  revolutionary  proceedings  in  the 
early  history  of  the  United  States  as  quite  irregu- 
lar, and  intimated  that  a  popular  convention  might 
be  recognized  at  Washington.  Thereupon,  in 
pursuance  of  the  Wayne  County  action,  David  C. 
McKinstry,  Ross  Wilkins,  Marshal  J.  Bacon,  John 
McDonell,  and  Charles  W.  Whipple,  called  a  con- 
vention to  be  held  at  Ann  Arbor  on  the  14th  of 
December,  and  recommended  that  their  action  be 
ratified  by  the  next  Legislature.  Elections  were 
held,  from  which  many  of  the  people  absented 
themselves  because  not  lawfully  held,  and  the  con- 
vention met,  (familiarly  known  as  the  "  Frost-bitten 
Convention")  made  up  entirely  of  delegates  favor- 
able to  admission.  They  at  once,  and  without 
ceremony,  gave  their  assent  to  the  conditions,  and 
forwarded  their  action  to  Washington.  The 
President  laid  the  case  before  Congress,  and  it 
gave  rise  to  much  debate.  The  validity  of  the 
convention  was  denied,  and  the  matter  was  con- 
siderably delayed.  There  was  a  general  disposi- 
tion to  admit  the  State,  but  not  to  recognize  the 
irregular  action  ;  and  a  preamble  reciting  consent 
to  have  been  given  was  strenuously  objected  to. 
The  bill  was  finally  passed,  with  a  preamble  which 
recited  that  consent  had  been  given  by  a  con- 
vention of  delegates,  "  elected  by  the  people  of 
the  State  for  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  their 
assent;"  and  Michigan  was  admitted  on  the  26th 
of  January,   1837. 


478 


ACQUIESCENCE.  [Chap.  XIV. 


It  would  be  very  difficult  to  maintain  the 
legality  of  this  convention,  on  any  principle  which 
would  not  lead  to  the  subversion  of  all  constitu- 
tional government.  But  Congress  acted  upon  it; 
and  the  question  was  one  political  and  not  judi- 
cial, on  which  their  action  was  final.  It  is 
probable,  also,  that  in  the  view  that  no  better 
terms  were  likely  to  be  made  for  some  years,  if 
at  all,  the  measure  would,  upon  a  second  sub- 
mission, have  been  ratified  by  a  large  majority  of 
the  people.  When  the  struggle  was  over,  the 
result  was  acquiesced  in ;  and  the  best  was  made 
of  what  was  deemed  a  bad  bargain.  An  attempt 
to  have  the  electoral  vote  of  Michigan  declared 
valid  failed.  All  that  could  be  done  for  it  was 
to  allow  the  fact  to  appear  that  it  had  been  cast 
for  Mr.  Van  Buren.  This  was  permitted  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  not  change  the  result ; 
and  its  regularity  was  left  open.  Colonel  Richard 
M.  Johnson  was  elected  Vice  President  by  the 
Senate,  for  lack  of  an  electoral  majority.  This 
election  took  place  after  the  State  was  admitted ; 
and  the  Senators,  Mr.  Norvell  and  Mr.  Lyon, 
had  the  opportunity  of  giving  him  their  votes. 

The  State  was  recognized,  when  admitted,  as 
having  existed  as  such  since  November,  1835,  when 
the  Senators  and  Representatives,  Governor  and 
Legislature,  came  into  office ;  and  such  has  been 
the  uniform  ruling  of  all  departments.  The  last 
act  of  the  Territorial  Judges,  on  the  first  day  of 
July,   1836,  —  three    days    before    the   Territory  of 


Chap.  XIV. j       CO-EXISTENCE  OF  STATE  AND   TERRITORY.  479 

Michigan  lost  its  remaining  jurisdiction  by  the  or- 
ganization of  Wisconsin, — was  in  their  capacity  as 
a  land  board.  They  conveyed  a  lot  of  land  in 
Detroit  to  the  Detroit  Young  Men's  Society,  —  a 
corporation  created  by  the  State  some  months 
before.  This  deed  was  held  valid,  on  the  ground 
that  the  Territory  survived  until  July  4th,  although 
a  part  of  its  domain  had  been  severed  and  trans- 
formed into  a  State. 

Henceforth  the  affairs  of  Michigan  were  within 
her  own  control.  The  motto  of  the  Territory  had 
been  Tandem  fit  Surculus  arbor  (the  sprout  at 
length  becomes  a  tree.)  This  simple  and  grace- 
ful sentiment,  with  the  device  expressing  it,  looked 
at  the  future  and  was  now  accomplished.  The 
conglomeration  of  mottoes  and  devices  on  the 
State  seal,  which  remind  one  of  the  character  In 
Shakspeare  who  had  been  at  a  feast  of  languages 
and  stolen  the  scraps,  is  devoid  enough  of  mean- 
ing to  give  a  wide  range  to  the  imagination. 
But,  in  spite  of  its  heraldic  confusion,  the  State 
has  suffered  no  damage  from  it ;  and  her  great 
seal,  though  not  attractive  as  a  work  of  art,  can 
certify  a  very  honorable  history. 


CHAPTER     XV. 

MICHIGAN    UNDER   THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    1 835. 

The  new  State  had,  at  the  time  of  its  admis- 
sion, become  fairly  settled  down  to  the  manage- 
ment of  home  affairs.  The  Supreme  Court  was 
organized  by  the  appointment  of  William  A. 
Fletcher  as  chief  justice,  and  George  Morell  and 
Epaphroditus  Ransom  associate  justices.  Chief 
Justice  Fletcher  had  previously  been  selected  to 
codify  and  digest  the  statutes,  and  was  busy  with 
his  work.  A  court  of  chancery  was  created,  and 
Elon  Farnsworth  was  appointed  chancellor.  This 
court,  under  his  presidency,  acquired  an  enviable 
reputation  for  the  justice  and  soundness  of  its 
decisions,  and  his  opinions  are  plain  and  lucid 
statements  of  correct  principles.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded, on  his  resignation  in  1842,  by  Randolph 
Manning,  who  was  also  an  able  chancellor,  and 
filled  with  credit  several  political  as  well  as  legal 
offices,  dying  in  August,  1864,  while  holding 
the  position  of  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
Court  of  Chancery  was  abolished  by  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  1846,  and  the  jurisdiction  vested  in  the 
circuit  courts. 


Chap.  XV.J  UNIVERSITY.  481 

John  D.  Pierce  of  Marshall  was  the  first  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction.  He  was  very 
active  in  preparing  the  general  scheme  of  educa- 
tion by  means  of  primary  schools,  and  the  Univer- 
sity and  its  branches.  The  University  was  es- 
tablished at  Ann  Arbor.  Its  board  of  regents 
consisted  of  the  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor, 
Chancellor,  and  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  as 
ex-officio  members,  and  twelve  regents  appointed 
by  the  Governor  and  Senate.  The  University 
was  ultimately  to  contain  not  only  a  literary 
department,  but  colleges  of  medicine  and  law. 
Branches  of  the  University  were  established  in 
various  places  as  preparatory  academies.  These 
were  at  Detroit,  Pontiac,  Tecumseh,  Niles,  Kala- 
mazoo, Monroe  and  White  Pigeon.  The  branches 
were  first  established,  and  in  1841  the  first  class 
was  opened  in  the  University  at  Ann  Arbor,  the 
first  graduates  leaving  the  college  in  1845.  The 
medical  college  was  opened  in  1848,  and  the  law 
department  in   1859. 

The  University  and  school  lands  previously 
set  apart  by  the  United  States  fork  University  and 
school  purposes  were  transferred  in  fee  to  the 
State,  to  dispose  of  them  as  might  seem  proper, 
and  preserve  the  funds  inviolate.  The  new 
organization,  being  identical  with  the  old,  obtained 
title  to  such  property  as  had  been  directly  vested 
in  that  corporation, — including  buildings  and  lands 
in  Detroit,  and  various  other  property.  The 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  was  put  in 
31 


482  SCHOOLS.  [Chap.  XV. 

charge  of  all  the  trust  lands  and  funds,  and 
retained  their  management  until  they  were  sub- 
sequently   transferred    to    the  State    Land    Office. 

The  Governor's  message,  in  1837,  dwelt  upon 
the  necessity  of  a  full  system  of  education,  and 
advocated  what  was  also  desired  by  Mr.  Pierce, 
the  ultimate  completion  of  a  uniform  system, 
whereby  any  child  could  be  educated  completely, 
from  the  earliest  rudiments  through  all  the 
branches  of  useful  and  elegant  knowledge.  This 
he  urged  as  necessary  to  secure  political  and 
civil  equality.  Although  it  took  many  years  to 
reach  the  desired  end,  it  has  been  reached,  and 
in  most  of  our  towns  the  schools  carry  up  their 
pupils  as  far  as  they  choose  to  go,  and  prepare 
them,  if  they  desire  it,  for  pursuing  their  scholas- 
tic work  in  the  University,  or  elsewhere.  Until 
union  and  high  schools  were  established,  the 
branches  of  the  University  had  been  the  only 
public  academies  under  State  authority.  Now 
there  are  not  only  multitudes  of  them,  but  they 
are  very  generally  free  schools  throughout.  The 
branches  were  not  kept  up  very  many  years. 
They    received    female    scholars    as    well  as  male. 

In  addition  to  school  lands,  the  United  States 
at  various  times  gave  to  the  State,  for  its  own 
purposes,  lands  for  State  buildings,  salt  springs, 
and  large  grants  to  aid  in  public  improvements. 
Five  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  of  government 
land  sales  was  also  given  for  internal  improve- 
ments.      Five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  internal 


Chap.  XV. j  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  483 

improvement  lands  were  asked  for  and  subse- 
quently granted.  Michigan  also  became  entitled 
to  a  share  of  the  surplus  revenue  of  the  United 
States.  These  large  possessions  were  anticipated, 
and  the  hope  of  receiving  them  had,  as  already 
seen,  been  one  of  the  inducements  to  submit  to 
the  unpleasant    conditions    imposed    by    Congress. 

The  Legislature  of  1836,  looking  forward  to 
these  accessions,  had  meditated  on  the  magnificent 
possibilities,  and  had,  among  other  things,  author- 
ized the  Governor  to  invite  proposals  from  every 
rail  road  company  in  the  State  for  the  transfer 
of  their  roads  and  franchises.  The  charters  were 
numerous,  but  not  very  much  had  been  done  in 
road-building.  In  1837,  as  soon  as  admission 
became  certain,  the  young  State  launched  out, 
like  an  heir  just  emancipated,  into  the  most 
lavish  display  of  her  new  freedom,  and  fancied 
opulence. 

Although  these  times  are  not  very  remote,  the 
present  generation  cannot,  perhaps,  quite  compre- 
hend how  people  felt.  There  was  as  yet,  no 
railway  communication  with  the  east.  From 
Albany  to  Schenectady  and  Utica,  the  road  was 
built  very  gradually.  West  of  Utica  the  travel 
was  by  stage  or  canal-boat.  The  Lake  Erie 
steamboats  were  the  finest  and  largest  boats  in 
America,  and  conveyed  travellers  with  speed  and 
comfort.  From  Detroit  to  Chicago  there  was  no 
convenient^  land-passage,  and  all  went  by  the 
lakes.      From    Chicago   westward   there   were   no 


484  RAILROADS  [CHAr.  XV. 

railroads,  and  no  travelling  facilities  beyond 
natural  roads.  It  was  more  than  fifteen  years 
before  any  railroad  crossed  Canada.  Telegraphs 
were  not  put  in  use  for  many  years.  There 
were  no  plank  or  gravel  roads,  and  the  best 
turnpikes  were  almost  impassable  for  several 
months  in  each  year. 

The  railroads  themselves  were  imperfect,  and 
their  ultimate  perfection  was  not  foreseen.  Their 
passenger  cars  were  small  vehicles,  holding  no 
more  than  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  passen- 
gers, and  not  much,  if  any,  heavier  than  the 
large  stage-coaches.  The  iron  was  flat  bar-iron, 
from  half  to  three-fourths  of  an  inch  thick,  spiked 
on  wooden  sleepers  which  were  lightly  tied,  and 
on  tracks  not  perfectly  graded  or  heavily  ballasted. 
The  locomotives  weighed  from  two  to  six  or 
seven  tons,  and  drew  corresponding  loads. 
Great  weight  and  high  speed  would  have  de- 
stroyed the  tracks.  One  of  the  dangers  of 
travel  was  from  "  snake-heads,"  caused  by  the 
loosening  of  the  ends  of  the  thin  rails,  which, 
bending  up,  were  caught  between  the  wheels,  and 
driven  through  the  bottom  of  the  car,  wounding 
or  impaling  any  one  who  sat  over  the  point  of 
entrance.  Instead  of  grading  up  or  down  steep 
declivities,  cars  were  passed  over  the  incline  by 
counter  weights  of  box-cars,  loaded  with  stone, 
which  balanced  them  like  window  weights,  and 
made  it  easy  to  pass  one  up  as  the  other  went 
down.     As  there  were  no  long  railways,  there  was 


Chap.  XV.]  RAILROADS.  485 

no  freighting  unless  of  light  articles,  except  for 
short  distances.  In  a  level  country  well  supplied 
with  wood,  the  cost  of  building  and  ironing  a 
railroad  was  very  trifling,  and  its  rolling  stock 
was  also  cheap  and  scanty.  The  original  capital 
stock  of  the  Detroit  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad 
Company,  (the  corporation  which  began  the 
Michigan  Central  Railroad)  was  a  million  and 
a  half  of  dollars.  The  entire  cost  of  building  and 
stocking  the  Central  Railroad  to  Marshall,  was 
reckoned  in  1846  as  having  been  two  millions 
of  dollars.  In  private  hands  it  would  probably 
have  .been  less;  and  the  capital  stock  of  $1,500,000, 
aided  by  the  earnings,  properly  managed,  would 
have  been  adequate  according  to  the  plans  first 
devised,  to  build  the  road ;  although  the  subse- 
quent improvements  in  track  and  stock  would 
have  made  new  arrangements  necessary,  if  the 
road  had  been  built  as  slowly  as  was  then 
customary.  Twenty  miles  a  year  was  in  those 
days  rapid  railroad  building. 

It  is  not  strange  that  with  the  experience  of 
such  a  rapid  growth,  the  people  of  Michigan  were 
.very  sanguine.  The  times  were  what  Judge 
Baldwin  very  aptly  named  them,  "  flush  times," 
when  money  was  turned  out  as  fast  as  engravers 
could  make  it,  and  nearly  every  good  engraving 
passed  current  somewhere.  Property  was  bought 
and  sold  at  fabulous  prices.  Land  which  could 
be  purchased  by  any  one  at  government  price 
for  a  dollar  and  a    quarter  an  acre,  would  sell  as 


486  SANGUINE  EXPECTATIONS.  [Chap.  XV. 

town  lots  on  an  engraved  village  or  city  plat,  for 
fifty  times  that  price,  with  no  reason  in  the 
world  for  the  advance. 

The  idea  seemed  current  that  the  mere  activ- 
ity of  immigration,  and  the  enthusiastic  visions  of 
the  immigrants,  actually  created  wealth.  Usually  a 
large  population  means  prosperity,  because  it  has 
grown  up  slowly,  and  improved  the  country  and 
accumulated  savings  for  many  years.  But  when 
population  from  a  mere  handful  grows  up  in  ten 
years  to  five  or  six  times  its  original  number, 
there  have  been  no  savings ;  and  there  is  no  pro- 
gress beyond  beginnings,  where  the  outlay  usually 
exceeds  the  income.  Of  the  settlers  who  came  to 
Michigan,  most  were  of  that  intelligent  and  enter- 
prising class  that  advance  the  material  interest  of 
a  region  as  fast  as  they  can,  and  in  the  end 
build  up  strong  communities.  But  they  were  also 
usually  of  the  class  whose  wealth  is  in  the  future 
and  not  in  possession,  and  who  do  more  borrow- 
ing than  lending.  They  were  also  very  hopeful, 
and  selected  their  homes  and  lands  with  sagacity, 
so  far  as  fertility  of  soil  and  fitness  for  farming, 
lumbering  and  milling,  were  concerned.  But  they 
very  often  reckoned  wildly,  by  overlooking  difficul- 
ties of  access.  The  garden  of  Eden  would  not 
pay  for  raising  articles  which  could  not  be 
marketed,  and  the  completest  mill  or  factory  that 
ever  was  built  could  not  flourish  without  customers. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  enterprising  settlers 
had  correct  notions  concerning   education.     There 


Chap.  XV.]  ADVANCED   LEGISLATION.  487 

never  was  in  any  country  a  more  liberal  and  en- 
lightened view  of  the  value  of  generous  culture. 
The  early  founders  of  Michigan  were  not  only  in- 
telligent, but  many  of  them  were  highly  cultivated 
and  intellectual ;  and  through  good  and  evil 
fortunes,  while  they  lost  wealth  and  suffered  pri- 
vations, they  adhered  with  dogged  tenacity  to  the 
system  of  schools,  which  had  been  planned  liber- 
ally, and  has  been  the  safeguard  and  glory  of  the 
State.  As  prosperity  has  increased  it  has  fallen 
upon  men  who  generally  have  known  its  relative 
value,  and  there  are  few  towns  in  the  common- 
wealth whose  schools  are  not  fully  up  in  complete- 
ness to  the  means  of  the  people. 

The  first  State  legislation  was  chiefly  directed 
to  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country. 
Roads  were  laid  out  in  every  direction,  and  placed 
under  local  supervision,  so  that  the  people  most 
nearly  interested  might  have  means  of  preventing 
neglect  and  dishonesty.  Railroads  were  chartered 
whenever  asked  for.  The  University  and  school 
lands  were  put  in  market  on  long  time.  The 
State  prepared  as  soon  as  possible  to  enter  upon 
a  general  system  of  internal  improvement,  where- 
by all  parts  of  its  jurisdiction  would  be  made 
readily  accessible,  and  be  brought  within  easy 
reach  of  markets  and  business  facilities. 

One  of  the  first  and  best  schemes  devised  to 
further  the  development  of  the  State  resources, 
was  the  organization  of  a  complete  geological 
survey.       In    February,  '1837,    an    act  was    passed 


488  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY.  [Chap.  XV. 

for  the  appointment  of  a  State  Geologist  to  con- 
duct such  a  survey,  and  annual  sums,  increasing 
from  $3,000  the  first  year  to.  $12,000  the  fourth, 
were  appropriated.  Doctor  Douglass  Houghton 
was  selected  to  fill  the  office.  He  was  already 
known  throughout  the  State  for  his  thorough 
qualities  as  a  sagacious  and  close  observer,  a 
laborious  and  patient  student,  and  a  man  of 
integrity,  whose  love  of  science,  and  devotion  to 
its  interests,  had  not  impaired  his  cool-headed 
shrewdness  and  habits  of  business.  Short  as  was 
the  remainder  of  his  useful  life,  the  best  observa- 
tions and  discoveries  in  the  fields  which  he  tra- 
versed have  proved  his  accuracy  and  judgment, 
and  have  shown  no  course  safer  than  to  follow 
his  suggestions.  Within  the  first  year  his  views 
had  become  so  favorably  accepted  that,  in  1838, 
the  survey  was  reorganized  on  a  larger  basis. 
Three  principal  assistants  were  required  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  on  his  nomination,  to 
wit,  a  zoologist,  a  botanist  and  a  topographer ; 
and  four  minor  assistants  to  be  nominated  by  the 
Governor  on  the  nomination  of  their  chiefs, — two 
for  the  zoologist,  one  for  the  geologist,  and  one 
for  the  botanist.  Twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year 
was  appropriated  for  the  service.  Maps,  reports, 
and  specimens  were  to  be  furnished  to  the  State, 
and  as  far  as  possible  to  the  University.  Dr. 
Abram  Sager  was  appointed  zoologist,  Dr.  John 
Wright  botanist,  and  Sylvester  W.  Higgins  topo- 
grapher.    Bela  Hubbard  and  Columbus  C.  Doug- 


Chap.  XV.]  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY.  489 

lass  acted  as  assistant  geologists,  and  Mr.  George 
H.  Bull  assistant  botanist.  Several  important 
reports  and  considerable  collections  were  made, 
and  valuable  maps  and  drawings  were  prepared 
and  some  of  them  engraved.  The  general  finan- 
cial depression  prevented  any  extensive  work 
after  1841,  and  in  the  careless  management  of 
some  of  the  State  property,  after  Dr.  Houghton's 
death,  all  of  his  engravings,  which  were  numerous 
and  very  beautiful,  and  many  of  his  collections 
which  had  been  left  in  the  State  offices  before 
their  removal  to  Lansing,  disappeared.  Dr. 
Houghton  had  before  his  death  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  Mr.  Beneworth,  a  wood-engraver,  whose 
marvellous  skill  had  obtained  him  honorable  tes- 
timonials in  Holland,  Sweden  and  Germany,  and 
who  executed  some  of  those  minute  gems  of 
engraving  which  beautify  Harper's  Bible.  This 
artist  had  become  desirous  of  seeing  the  New 
World,  and  was  disposed  to  set  out  for  the  un- 
defined western  regions  of  which  he  had  very 
vague  notions,  when  Dr.  Houghton  found  him  in 
New  York,  and  being  mutually  interested,  he  was 
induced  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  engraving  the 
illustrations  which  would  be  needed  for  the  final 
report.  The  blocks  were  engraved  and  left  with 
uncut  margins  to  prevent  abrasion,  and  in  this 
condition  deposited  for  safe  keeping  with  one  of 
the  State  officers.  Besides  these,  Mr.  Higgins 
had  drawn  carefully,  on  stone,  a  large  number  of 
fossils    and    other    specimens,    and    several    maps 


490  BANKING.  [Chap.  XV% 

were  engraved.  All  have  been  lost.  Their  mon- 
ey value  was  not  less  than  many  thousand 
dollars.  Their  artistic  as  well  as  scientific  value 
cannot  be  reckoned. 

Another  scheme  for  the  development  of  re- 
sources was  unlimited  banking.  To  this  the 
Governor  was  not  favorable,  unless  upon  careful 
security.  But  the  ideas  of  banking  were  very 
ill-adapted  to  such  times.  It  has  hardly  become 
an  exact  science  yet,  but  those  times  furnished 
some  valuable,  though  costly  experience.  At  that 
era  the  nation  was  out  of  debt,  and  all  the  State 
debts  combined  were  less  than  some  ambitious 
cities  now  pile  up  in  a  twelvemonth.  Banking 
on  stock  security  was  unheard  of.  But  banking 
had  thus  far  been  reasonably  well  conducted 
generally.  The  favorite  New  York  system  then 
was  the  "  safety  fund,"  by  which  each  bank  subject 
to  it  contributed  a  small  percentage  of  its  capital 
to  a  general  fund,  which  was  relied  on  to  make 
up  such  deficiencies  as  might  arise  when  single 
corporations  were  wound  up.  Large  insolvencies 
with  no  assets  were  not  imaginable.  In  1836, 
the  Michigan  Legislature  provided  for  a  fund  to 
be  made  up  of  three  per  cent,  on  the  capital  of 
every  bank,  payable  in  annual  portions  of  one- 
half  of  one  per  cent.  Many  banks  were  chartered, 
and  some  of  them  came  under  this  rule.  But  in 
the  large  dealings  with  which  this  freely  issued 
paper  had  made  men  familiar,  it  was  thought  there 
was    not    currency    enough   afloat,  and  specie  was 


Chap    XV.]  WILD  CAT  BANKING  LAW.  491 

rarely  seen.  One  motive  for  forming  new  banks 
was  the  desire  to  secure  a  share  of  the  govern- 
ment deposits,  as  well  as  the  surplus  revenue, 
which  had  also  been  sometimes  deposited  by  the 
States,  to  be  ready  if  required  to  be  refunded, 
this  being  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  distribution. 
In  1837,  a  general  banking  law  was  passed,  which 
was  supposed  to  contain  better  securities  than  any 
other  similar  scheme,  and  included  the  safety  fund 
plan  in  addition.  Any  persons  residing  in  a  county 
of  the  State,  (including  among  them  at  least  twelve 
free-holders,)  could  organize  banks  of  from  $50,000 
to  $300,000  capital,  and  care  was  taken  that  at 
least  one-third  of  the  stock  should  always  belong 
to  county  residents,  in  good  faith  and  for  their 
own  use  ;  and  on  executing  the  preliminaries  and 
paying  in  30  per  cent,  in  specie,  they  could  pro- 
ceed to  business.  Ten  per  cent,  was  payable  on 
the  stock  every  six  months,  until  all  the  capital 
was  paid  in.  Before  beginning  banking  business, 
bonds  and  mortgages,  or  the  personal  bonds  of 
resident  free-holders,  satisfactory  to  the  County 
Treasurer  and  County  Clerk,  were  to  be  filed  with 
the  Auditor  General,  to  the  full  amount  of  the 
circulation  and  indebtedness.  Neither  the  circula- 
tion nor  the  loans  and  discounts  were  to  exceed 
twice  and  a  half  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock. 
A  rigid  system  of  bank  examiners  and  examina- 
tions was  provided,  to  prevent  any  banks,  char- 
tered or  general,  from  committing  frauds. 


492  FRAUDULENT   BANKING.  [Chap.  XV. 

This  statute  was  held  invalid,  because  the  Con- 
stitution prohibited  any  corporations  which  had  not 
been  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  Legislature. 
But  many  banks  were  organized.  The  county 
clerks  and  treasurers  had  as  liberal  ideas  on  the 
value  of  lands  and  the  solvency  of  free-holders  as 
could  be  desired ;  and  while  in  the  older  towns 
some  of  these  institutions  were  carried  on  as  pru- 
dently and  honestly  as  any  others,  the  general 
tendency  of  most  of  the  smaller,  and  some  of  the 
larger,  banks  was  towards  reckless  discounting 
and  wild  speculation.  Competent  cashiers  and 
officers  were  rare.  Men  assumed  to  be  bankers 
who  had  no  business  knowledge,  and  could  hardly 
cast  accounts.  Many  went  into  the  business  as 
an  easy  method  of  swindling.  The  Bank  Com- 
missioners, who  were  compelled  to  travel  without 
the  facilities  of  railroads  and  telegraphs,  discovered 
all  manner  of  devices  to  deceive  them  as  to  assets. 
Base  metals  were  packed  in  coin  boxes,  and  cov- 
ered over  with  thin  spreadings  of  coin  ;  and  some- 
times the  same  coin  was  kept  in  transit  from  bank 
to  bank  through  by-ways  in  advance  of  the  Com- 
missioners, until  its  familiar  appearance,  or  a  re- 
trograde visitation,  exposed  the  trick.  Few  and 
evil  were  the  days  of  this  banking,  and  the  history 
of  the  system  of  wildcat  banks  would  be  humili- 
ating but  perhaps  profitable  reading  now ;  although 
the  sharpers  and  rascals  of  1876  are  undoubtedly 
more  adept  in  knavery  than  their  ruder  predeces- 
sors,   and    would    not    be    proud    of    such    small 


Chap.  XV. J  HAD   INVESTMENTS.  493 

swindling.  The  crash  came  as  soon  as  the  general 
business  panic  began  to  spread  through  the  Union  ; 
and  within  five  years  after  the  State  was  formed, 
the  financial  ruin  of  its  people  was  complete. 
The  best  improved  property  in  the  best  towns 
shrunk  to  less  than  half,  and  sometimes  less  than 
a  fourth,  of  its  previously  estimated  value,  while 
unimproved  property  not  paid  for  bankrupted  its 
luckless  mortgagor,  and  if  paid  for  was  often  too 
burdensome  to  support  its  quota  of  taxes. 

But  young  States,  like  children,  do  not  always 
look  beyond  the  year,  and  Michigan  was  no  more 
prudent  than  others.  It  allowed  the  school  funds 
to  be  lent  out  to  private  borrowers  as  well  as  to 
banks  and  corporations,  and  made  loans  of  its 
own  bonds  and  money  to  various  railroads  and 
other  schemes.  Railroad  mortgages  of  the  mod- 
ern kind  were  then  unknown,  and  those  early 
loans  would  be  regarded  if  made  now,  as  safer 
than  the  majority  of  advances  made  in  these 
days  on  such  securities.  They  were  generally 
secured  by  private  mortgages  or  guarantees,  and 
they  were  all  on  promising  roads  as  first  encum- 
brances. Yet  in  most  cases  the  State  lost  a  large 
percentage.  The  surplus  revenue  was  lent  to 
banks  on  deposit,  and  most  of  this  was  repaid  or 
collected  ultimately,  but  some  of  it  after  long 
waiting.  Bounties  were  offered,  and  some  loans 
made,  to  encourage,  among  other  things,  the  man- 
ufacture of  beet-sugar.  This  speculation  failed, 
but  the  State  met  no  serious  injury. 


494 


BOUNTIES  AND   REWARDS.  [Chap.  XV. 


The    bounties    and    loans    to    encourage    new 
branches    of  industry   were    not    extravagant,    and 
were    probably    well    invested,    even     where     the 
object  did  not  succeed.      Attention  was    drawn  to 
the    difficulty    as  well    as    to  the  supposed    merits 
of  the  schemes,  and  it  is  a    matter  of  congratula- 
tion, partly  due  to  this,  that  few  large  enterprises 
have  ever  been  abandoned  as  impracticable.     The 
early   experiments    prevented    heavier    subsequent 
losses.       Among    other    things,    tried    on    a    small 
scale  and  abandoned,  was  silk-raising.     There  was 
at  one    time    an    epidemic    mania    for    raising   the 
mortis    multicaulis,     (a    mulberry    adapted    to    the 
silk-worm,)   and  this  State,  while  somewhat  excited, 
was  not  much  hurt  by    it.       A    gift    of   $3,000,    in 
1837,    to    the  Reverend    Martin    Kundig,    was    an 
investment  more  hopeful.       It   was   given    to    that 
excellent  man    in    recognition    of  his    faithful    and 
unwearied  labors  and   outlays    during    the    cholera 
visitation.     While  it  is  the  solitary  private  reward 
or  pension  found  in  our    history  for  philanthropic 
services,  it  was  creditable    to  giver    and    receiver. 
Mr.  Kundig  is  remembered  by    the  older  inhabit- 
ants of  Detroit  as  one    of  the    few    persons    who 
ever    made    a    poor-house    a    charming    place    of 
resort  for  visitors,    entertained    only  by  his  pleas- 
ant conversation    and    the    sight    of   his    well-kept 
gardens ;    and  who,  with    strict    economy,    secured 
to  his  unfortunate  wards  comfort  and  self-respect. 
The  necessity  of  internal  communication  led  to 
a  measure  which  for  many  years    kept   down    the 


Chap.  XV. J  FIVE  MILLION    LOAN. 


495 


credit  of  the  State,  and  crippled  its  resources, 
thereby  driving  away  some  of  its  own  citizens, 
and  effectually  preventing  the  growth  of  its  popu- 
lation by  increase  from  abroad. 

In  addition  to  some  smaller  debts,  it  was  de- 
termined to  borrow  five  millions  of  dollars,  to  ex- 
pend in  various  public  works.  It  was  expected 
that  by  the  aid  of  this  sum,  and  such  other  dona- 
tions as  might  be  received  from  the  United  States, 
three  trunk  railroads  could  be  built  across  the 
State,  two  canals  made,  several  rivers  improved 
so  as  to  be  navigable,  some  small  railroads 
finished,  and  a  ship-canal  opened  round  the  Falls 
of  the  St.  Mary's  River. 

A  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Internal  Improve- 
ment had  already  been  appointed.  On  the  20th 
of  March,  1837,  this  Board  was  directed  to  survey 
three  railroad  routes  across  the  peninsula.  The 
first  was  the  Michigan  Central,  from  Detroit  to 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  in  Berrien 
County.  The  second  was  the  Southern,  to  run 
from  the  mouth  of  the  River  Raisin,  through 
Monroe,  to  New  Buffalo.  The  third  was  the 
Northern,  to  run  from  Palmer  or  Port  Huron  to 
Grand  Rapids  or  Grand  Haven.  A  purchase  was 
to  be  made  of  the  Detroit  and  St.  Joseph  Rail- 
road, which  had  gone  partly  through  Washtenaw 
County.  Five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars 
was  appropriated  to  these  roads  at  once,  four 
hundred  thousand  for  the  Central,  one  hundred 
thousand  for  the  Southern,  (both  of  which  included 


496  RAILROADS  AND   CANALS.  [Chap.  XV. 

private  railroads  to  be  purchased,)  and  fifty  thou- 
sand for  the  Northern  road.  Twenty  thousand 
dollars  was  appropriated  for  surveys  of  a  canal, 
or  combined  canal  and  railway,  from  Mt.  Clemens 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Kalamazoo  River,  a  canal 
from  Saginaw  River  to  Maple  or  Grand  River, 
and  river  surveys  on  the  St.  Joseph,  Kalamazoo 
and  Grand  Rivers,  for  slackwater  navigation. 
Seventy-five  thousand  dollars  more  was  to  be  ex- 
pended on  some  of  these  and  other  works. 

Of  these  works  it  may  be  enough  to  say  that 
the  Michigan  Central  was  pushed  by  degrees  as 
far  as  Marshall,  and  built  in  good  part  from  its 
earnings,  and  the  Southern  was  also  extended 
into  Hillsdale  County.  Both  of  these  were  sold 
in  1846,  and  the  purchase  extinguished  a  large 
proportion  of  the  State  debt.  The  Northern  Road 
was  graded  beyond  Lapeer,  and  its  bed  was  con- 
verted into  a  wagon-road,  at  the  expense  of  a 
large  amount  of  internal  improvement  lands,  which 
paid  a  great  price  for  a  very  little  work.  The 
Clinton  Canal  was  completed  a  few  miles,  and 
rented  for  water  power.  Very  little,  if  anything, 
came  of  the  other  schemes. 

On  the  2 1  st  of  March,  1837,  a  law  was  passed 
authorizing  the  Governor  to  negotiate  for  a  loan 
of  five  millions  of  dollars,  at  not  more  than  five 
and  a  half  per  cent,  interest,  and  redeemable  after 
twenty-five  years.  At  first  it  was  required  to  be 
payable  in  the  United  States,  but  afterwards 
allowed  to    bear  six  per  cent.,  and  be  made    pay- 


Chap.  XV.]  CONDITION   OF   EXCHANGES.  497 

able  in  Europe,  in  pounds  sterling  at  four  dollars 
and  forty-four  cents,  or  in  Holland  guilders  at 
forty  cents. 

The  Cashier  of  the  Michigan  State  Bank  (at 
this  time  John  Norton,  Jr.)  was  Fiscal  Agent  of 
the  State,  having  no  large  discretionary  powers, 
but  keeping  the  State  deposits  in  his  bank.  At 
this  time  demand  exchange  on  New  York  was 
purchased  by  the  banks  in  large  sums  at  six  per 
cent,  premium,  and  sold  at  much  higher  rates, — 
from  ten  per  cent,  upward  in  some  cases.  Eastern 
bills  had  a  fictitious  reputation,  and  were  re- 
garded— good  and  bad  alike — as  better  than  home 
currency.  Why  this  estimate  was  put  on  them 
was  not  manifest  except  that  persons  sometimes 
bought  them  as  cheaper  than  exchange,  to  use  in 
eastern  purchases.  Michigan  money  was  of  differ- 
ent values.  City  money  was  at  par, — country 
money  in  a  few  cases  was  at  a  slight  discount,  but 
usually  at  a  considerable  one.  A  difference  was 
made  between  "  chartered"  banks  and  ordinary 
" safety  fund"  which  were  chiefly  "  wild-cat,"  although 
the  difference  was  purely  imaginary,  or  quite  as 
often  as  not  in  favor  of  the  wild-cats.  No  worse 
frauds  were  ever  detected  in  banking  than  among 
several  of  the  chartered  banks. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs,  the  credit  of  the 
State  was  first  tried  in  the  money  market,  on 
what  was  then  a  reasonably  large  scale.  There 
is  no  doubt  Michigan  bonds  could  have  been 
placed  in  Europe,  and  probably  in  the  United 
32 


498 


DISPOSAL  OF  STATE   BONDS  [Chap.  XV. 


States,  by  proper  management.  If  they  had  been 
honestly  dealt  with,  the  State  would  probably  have 
had  no  serious  trouble.  But  Governor  Mason, 
who  was  personally  honest  himself,  was  a  novice 
in  finance,  and  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Philistines. 

By  some  unfortunate  mischance  he  was  induced 
to  select  the  Morris  Canal  and  Banking  Company 
of  New  Jersey  to  aid  him  in  negotiating  the  bonds. 
How  this  was  brought  about  has  not  been  made 
public.  He  was  unquestionably  misled  by  his  own 
inexperience  into  accepting  strange  counsels.  He 
made  more  than  one  agreement,  and  each  one  was 
worse  than  the  last.  On  the  first  day  of  June, 
1838,  an  agreement  was  made  substantially  as  fol- 
lows, except  that  some  of  its  provisions  are  am- 
biguous and  not  very  intelligible.  The  Governor 
agreed  to  make  the  Morris  Canal  and  Banking 
Company  agents  irrevocable,  to  negotiate  the 
$5,000,000  loan,  and  $200,000  of  other  bonds  after- 
wards authorized  for  special  purposes.  The  bonds 
were  to  be  sold  in  Europe  or  America,  at  such 
times  and  in  such  quantities  as  the  agents  deter- 
mined, for  which  sales  they  were  to  have  two  and 
a  half  per  cent,  commission,  and  in  addition  half 
of  any  premiums  received,  up  to  five  per  cent., 
and  all  beyond  that ;  and  were  to  bear  all  expen- 
ses, and  guarantee  that  the  proceeds  deposited  in 
New  York,  added  to  their  commission,  should  not 
be  less  than  their  par  value.  They  were  also  to 
pay  the  amount  of  the    bonds,  less  their  commis- 


Chap.  XV. J  TERMS  OF  CONTRACTS.  499 

sions,  in  instalments,  whether  sold  or  not,  but 
were  always  entitled  to  have  in  hand  a  million  of 
bonds  in  excess  of  payments  already  advanced,  if 
so  much  remained  undisposed  of.  They  were  also 
at  liberty,  if  they  chose,  on  thirty  days'  notice,  to 
take  and  pay  for  the  bonds  at  par,  less  their 
commissions.  The  contract  as  to  the  time  when 
in  that  case  they  should  pay  for  them  is  very  blind. 
$1,300,000  of  the  bonds  were  delivered  over  at 
once,  and  they  were  to  pay  for  these  $250,000  in 
cash,  and  $1,050,000  when  called  for,  on  order,  less 
their  commissions.  The  remainder  of  the  entire 
loan  was  payable  in  quarterly  instalments  of 
$250,000  each,  (or  a  million  a  year,)  beginning- 
July  1  st,  1839,  thus  givmg  them  about  five  years 
in  all  to  close  up  the  matter.  A  difficulty  after- 
wards arose  concerning  the  interest  account,  on 
which  the  contract  is  silent. 

On  the  fourth  of  June,  1838,  —  (three  days 
after  the  contract,)  —  Governor  Mason,  without 
any  legal  authority,  made  a  further  arrangement. 
The  $1,300,000,  instead  of  being  paid  in  cash,  he 
allowed  to  .be  put  to  his  credit  on  the  books  of 
the  Company,  as  a  payment  in  full,  and  agreed 
to  take  the  whole  of  it  in  the  bank  bills  of  the 
Company,  and  disburse  them  for  State  purposes, 
—  receiving  $250,000  on  the  first  of  August,  and 
$100,000  a  month  thereafter.  This  gave  the  bank 
the  benefit  of  a  distant  circulation  for  over  a  mil- 
lion and  a  quarter  of  bills,  and  the  interest  in  ad- 
dition on  this  whole  sum  for  an  average  of  about 


500 


THE   AGENTS   OBTAIN   ALL  THE   BONDS.  [Chap.  XV 


six  months.  On  the  14th  of  July,  Mr.  Norton,  the 
Fiscal  Agent,  in  equal  absence  of  authority,  made 
a  still  further  arrangement.  Instead  of  paying  over 
their  bills,  they  were  to  accept  drafts  for  the  same 
amounts,  payable  ninety  days  after  each  of  these 
instalments  of  bills  was  to  have  been  furnished ; 
and  these  ninety  day  drafts  were  taken  as  cash. 
As  this  transaction  was  between  bankers  of  ex- 
perience, it  needs  no  comment.  It  gave  them 
directly  ninety-three  days  of  additional  interest  on 
the  whole  $1, 300,000. 

The  next  phase  in  this  transaction  was  during 
the  same  year,  in  November,  when  the  whole 
bonds  were  turned  over  to  these  honest  agents, 
upon  the  sole  corporate  obligation  of  the  Morris 
Canal  and  Banking  Company,  to  pay  one-fourth 
of  the  instalments  originally  provided  for,  and 
that  of  the  United  States  Bank,  (which  was  no 
longer  a  National  bank,  but  a  State  corporation 
of  the  same  name,)  for  the  other  three-fourths,— 
keeping  a  proper  interest  account.  In  this  way 
the  whole  amount  of  the  bonds  got  into  the  hands 
of  the  agents,  without  any  security  whatever.  The 
Morris  Canal  Company  made  default  in  the  pay- 
ments early  in  1840.  The  State  Treasurer,  Robert 
Stuart,  found  that  they  had  got  rid  of  their  share 
of  the  bonds  in  some  way,  and  was  glad  to  get 
securities  for  about  two-thirds  of  their  proportion 
of  the  unpaid  and  future  instalments,  but  was  hope- 
ful that  they  would  be  able  to  pay  in  full,  with 
some  delay.    "They  were  allowed  an  extension    of 


Chap.  XV. J  DEFAULT   OF  AGENTS.     STATE  SCRIP.  501 

four  years,  until  January,  1844,  but  long  before 
this  they  failed  entirely.  Their  assets  given  as 
security  were  of  a  strangely  miscellaneous  charac- 
ter, and  showed  a  very  reckless  course  of  banking. 

Specie  payments  were  now  generally  suspended, 
and  the  State  found  difficulty  in  raising  money  for 
its  current  expenses.  The  United  States  Bank 
also  made  default  in  a  part  of  the  April  instal- 
ment in  1840.  The  Treasurer  managed  to  get 
more  or  less  money  out  of  this  bank  that  year, 
and  the  delay  of  that  corporation  was  also  re- 
garded as  temporary.  In  April,  1841,  an  issue  of 
State  scrip  was  provided  for,  in  the  form  of  bank- 
bills,  and  receivable  for  State  dues,  to  anticipate 
the  next  four  instalments  coming  from  the  loan. 
But  they  never  came.  The  scrip  depreciated  con- 
siderably, but,  being  receivable  for  taxes,  was 
about  the  only  available  currency  to  be  had ;  and 
salaries  and  all  other  general  liabilities  were  paid 
in  it,  and  accepted  as  the  only  thing  to  be  ob- 
tained. The  Treasurer  endeavored  to  get  back 
the  bonds  for  which  nothing  had  been  received, 
but  they  had  been  hypothecated  by  the  failing 
banks  and  were  beyond  reach.  As  they  were  all 
where  the  equities  still  bound  them,  their  further 
negotiation  was  checked  by  proper  notices.  The 
State  arranged  to  pay  on  each  what  had  been 
advanced  upon  it,  and  in  the  subsequent  sale  of 
the  railroads  these  part  paid  bonds  were  received 
— remitting  most  of  the  damages  to  which  the 
State    was    entitled    by  reason  of  the  protest   and 


502  DISASTROUS   LOSSES.  [Chap.  XV. 

default,  and  the  accounts  were  substantially  closed. 
The  loss  to  the  State  in  interest  caused  by  the 
peculiar  arrangements  made  after  the  first  con- 
tract, even  if  there  had  been  no  default,  was 
$121,881.88  without  reckoning  the  retention  of  the 
whole  iy2  per  cent,  commissions  in  advance. 
The  damage  by  reason  of  losses  in  work  sus- 
pended, and  improvements  rendered  valueless,  is 
not  to  be  estimated.  It  brought  the  State  to  the 
verge  of  ruin,  and  its  evil  consequences  lasted  for 
many  years. 

It  became  necessary  to  pay  internal  improve- 
ment expenses  with  a  different  sort  of  paper  from 
State  scrip.  Parties  contracted  to  receive  their 
pay  in  internal  improvement  warrants,  payable  in 
land,  and  not  in  money.  Land  being  then  a  drug, 
and  not  in  demand,  these  warrants  ran  down  to 
forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  the  contract  prices 
were  fixed  accordingly.  This  soon  deprived  the 
State  of  many  of  the  best  lands,  at  a  great  sacri- 
fice. No  further  labor  was  done  except  on  such 
works  as  were  of  immediate  necessity  and  useful- 
ness, and  the  unfinished  works  were  for  the  most 
part  permanently  abandoned,  and  their  cost  entire- 
ly wasted. 

But  the  construction  of  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant works  for  the  development  of  the  country 
was  prevented  by  a  very  gross  outrage.  One  of 
the  first  measures  of  internal  improvement  adopted 
was  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  round  the 
Falls  of  the  St.  Mary's  River.      An  appropriation 


Chap.  XV.]  SAULT   CANAL  STOPPED.  503 

was  made,  in  March,  1837,  for  the  survey  and 
commencement  of  the  work,  as  soon  as  the  Board 
of  Internal  Improvement  approved  the  plans. 
Surveys  and  plans  were  made,  and  publicly  known, 
and  contracts  were  entered  into  in  accordance  with 
them,  and  the  contractors  proceeded  to  purchase 
materials  and  make  all  their  preparations  in  the 
latter  part  of  1838  and  beginning  of  1839,  to  g° 
on  with  their  work  on  the  opening  of  navigation. 
The  State  made  them  an  advance  in  the  early 
spring.  On  the  9th  of  May,  they  arrived  on  the 
ground,  and,  as  they  were  preparing  to  proceed, 
they  were  served  by  a  subaltern  assistant  quarter 
master  of  the  United  States  with  a  letter  of  the 
War  Department,  addressed  to  himself,  whereby 
it  was  directed  that  no  interference  must  be  al- 
lowed with  the  improvements  made  by  the  United 
States  at  that  post,  "  among  which  the  mill-race 
is  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  importance  ;" 
and  he  was  notified  to  "  apprise  the  contractor 
that  he  cannot  be  allowed,  in  the  execution  of  his 
contract,  to  interfere,  in  any  way,  with  that  work." 
Accordingly  the  officer,  on  the  day  of  serving 
this  letter,  gave  the  contractor  notice  that  it  would 
be  his  duty  "  to  interfere  with  any  work  on  the 
projected  canal,  that  might  injure  the  United 
States  mill-race  near  that  post."  This  notice  was 
served  on  the  1  2th  of  May.  The  letter  was  dated 
on  the  6th  of  March,  1839,  more  than  two  months 
before,  and  was  an  answer  to  one  received  by  the 
War  Department,  written  by  this  same    officer    in 


504  ARBITRARY   MILITARY   INTERFERENCE.         [Chaf.  XV 

January,  1839,  containing  information  how  the 
canal  was  laid  out  and  to  be  constructed.  No 
communication  was  made  during  this  interval  to 
the  State  of  Michigan,  nor  to  any  one  else.  This 
mill-race,  as  shown  to  the  Legislative  Committee, 
was  not  on  any  ground  that  had  been  set  apart 
as  a  military  reserve,  but  the  Town  of  Sault  Ste. 
Marie  intervened  between  the  mill-race  and  the 
fort,  which  was  a  long  way  off.  The  mill  is  said 
by  the  committee  who  examined  into  the  matter 
to  have  been  dilapidated  and  useless,  and  General 
Whiting,  the  chief  quarter  master  of  this  depart- 
ment, so  stated.  The  State  had  not  ceded  juris- 
diction over  any  part  of  the  land  in  question. 

The  contractors  informed  the  officer  who 
notified  them,  "  that  they  were  bound  by  the  State 
of  Michigan,  to  excavate  the  canal  within  the 
lines  run  and  laid  out  by  the  chief  engineer,  and 
that  they  should  proceed  with  the  work,  and 
could  not  allow  water  to  flow  through  the  race, 
where  the  canal  crosses  the  same,  as  it  would 
entirely  frustrate  the  object  that  the  State  of 
Michigan  had  in  view."  The  commanding  officer 
at  the  fort,  Captain  Johnson,  responded  that,  under 
his  instructions,  "  the  proposed  work  could  not  go 
on  peaceably ;"  and  that  he  was  bound  to  carry 
them  out  to  their  full  extent.  The  contractors 
went  upon  the  ground,  nevertheless,  and  began 
work,  when  they  were  met,  not  by  the  mandate 
or  injunction  of  the  civil  authority,  but  by  Captain 
Johnson  in  his  military  capacity  at  the  head  of  a 


Chap.  XV.]  STATE   PROTEST 


505 


company  of  soldiers.  They  had  their  implements 
taken  from  them  by  actual  violence,  and  the  party 
was  driven  off  the  ground  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet. 

This  unjustifiable  outrage  put  an  end  to  the 
work,  and  postponed  the  building  of  the  canal 
nearly  fifteen  years.  It  was  brought  before  the 
Legislature  repeatedly  by  the  State  Executive,  and 
in  1840,  when  it  was  first  presented,  with  a  very 
indignant  message,  by  Governor  Woodbridge,  and 
the  facts  fully  investigated  and  reported  on  by  a 
committee,  the  Legislature,  by  a  joint  resolution, 
declared  their  opinion  that  the  course  of  the  gov- 
ernment authorities  was  "unwarranted  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  a  violation 
of  the  rights  and  sovereignty  of  the  State*  of 
Michigan,"  and  that  as  an  act  of  justice,  the  gov- 
ernment was  bound  to  repay  the  State  its  advan- 
ces and  damages ;  and  directed  that  the  State  del- 
egation in  Congress  be  requested  to  take  proper 
action  in  the  premises.  In  1 841,  Governor  Wood- 
bridge  felt  it  his  duty  "  again  to  ask  the  attention 
of  the  Legislature  to  the  unauthorized  and  forcible 
interruption,  by  the  troops  of  the  United  States, 
of  the  public  works  of  the  State,  during  the  year 
before  the  last,  at  the  Sault  de  Ste.  Marie.  The 
pecuniary  loss  to  the  State,  resulting  from  that 
reprehensible  interposition,  remains  unsatisfied,  and 
the  injury  to  its  honor  unatoned  for." 

The  bitter  political  contests  which  at  this  time 
absorbed    the    attention    of   the    American    people 


506  REPREHENSIBLE  ACTION.  [Chap.  XV. 

may  have  rendered  this  affair  less  important  in 
the  sight  of  Congress  than  it  was  in  fact.  The 
use  of  military  force,  as  a  substitute  for  civil  re- 
medies, is  intolerable  in  any  country  governed  by 
law.  The  official  insolence  which  paid  no  attention 
to  notifying  the  State  authorities,  and  gave  them 
no  opportunity  to  delay  their  appropriations,  or 
deal  with  the  matter  in  a  legal  way  and  obtain  a 
removal  of  the  difficulties,  was  offensive  and  dis- 
graceful. The  damage  to  the  State  was  very 
serious.  The  Upper  Peninsula  had  been  forced 
upon  her  acceptance,  and  the  duty  was  at  once  as- 
sumed of  providing  for  making  it  available.  The 
explorations  had  already  shown  the  immediate 
value  of  its  fisheries,  and  the  ultimate  value  of  its 
great  deposits  of  metal.  The  expense  of  trans- 
shipment caused  by  the  land  portage  at  the  Sault, 
could  not  be  borne  without  multiplying  the  cost  of 
all  work  done  in  that  region,  and  adequate  ship- 
ping could  not  be  built  on  Lake  Superior  without 
better  means  of  getting  there,  and  assurance  of 
immediate  remunerative  employment.  No  large 
vessels  have  to  this  day  been  built  there,  and  the 
first,  and  for  many  years  the  only,  vessels  of  any 
magnitude  that  were  used  upon  that  lake,  were 
carried  across  the  portage  by  the  expensive  and 
perilous  process  of  dragging  them  overland. 

The  Reserve  at  the  Sault,  even  within  the 
limits  which  were  adopted  for  military  purposes, 
has  been  a  source  of  trouble  in  the  way  of  im- 
provements.    The    carelessness  of  our  legislation, 


Chap.  XV.]  NEEDLESS   GOVERNMENT   RESERVES.  507 

without  proper    investigation,  not  only  in  allowing 
government  reserves    to  be    created,  for    purposes 
where  exclusive  jurisdiction  is  entirely  unnecessary 
for  the  uses  of   the  United  States,  but    in  permit- 
ting them  to  be  much  larger  than  is  necessary,  is 
very    much    to    be    regretted.     The    propriety    of 
giving  the  government  exclusive    jurisdiction  over 
forts    and    navy-yards,    and    other    similar    places, 
where    no    one    has    any    right    to    go    except  on 
public    business,   is    evident    enough.     But    places 
which  it  is  not  dangerous  to  the  United  States  to 
leave  open  to  access  at  all    times,  ought  never  to 
be  removed  from  State  jurisdiction.     No  difficulty 
ever  arose  from  having  courts,  or  custom  houses, 
or    post    offices,  or    roads,  or    canals,  continued  on 
ground  not  subject   to  the  exclusive  jurisdictiction 
of    Congress.      The    United    States    can    lawfully 
legislate  to  punish    interferences    with    any    of  its 
institutions    or    property,  wherever    they    may    be. 
But  the  consequences  of  exclusive  jurisdiction  are 
very  serious.     Residents  may    lose  their  rights  of 
voting  and  citizenship, — they    may    cause  difficulty 
in  determining  the  validity  of  wills  and  contracts, 
in    the    rights    of  husband    and    wife  in  their  per- 
sonal property,  and  in  the  laws  of  distribution,  so 
that    if  different    reserves    in    the  same  State    are 
created  at  different  times,  there    may    be  as  many 
different    codes    of  law    applicable.     Many    crimes 
are  punished  differently  by  the  United  States  and 
State  laws,  and  some  acts    which  are  penal  under 
one  system  are  exempt    from    penalty    under   the 


oOS 


LEGISLATIVE   EXPRESSION    ON    RESERVES.        ,  Chap.   XV. 


other.  Instances  have  already  arisen  in  more 
than  one  State  exemplifying  these  evils.  The 
dangers  to  public  peace,  where  offences  commit- 
ted on  one  side  of  a  street  are  governed  by  dif- 
ferent laws  from  those  committed  across  the  way, 
or  on  adjacent  lands,  are  not  theoretical  nor  small. 
The  disfranchisement  of  the  Asylum  in  Ohio,  and 
its  results,  exemplified  what  every  one  who  has 
examined  the  subject  has  found  strong  reason  to 
deprecate.  There  is  no  higher  act  of  sovereignty 
than  that  which  transfers  sovereignty,  and  yet  it 
is  easier  under  our*  laws  (assuming  them  to  be 
valid)  to  cede  away  State  jurisdiction,  than  to  lay 
out  a  highway,  and  it  is  done  with  much  less 
ceremony,  and  for  purposes  in  no  way  requiring 
it.  In  1855  the  Legislature  passed  a  joint  resolu- 
tion, complaining  of  the  needless  extent  of  the 
reserves,  and  urging  their  correction  ;  but  subse- 
quent legislation  seems  to  have  lost  sight  of  this 
mischief. 

The  general  discontent  with  the  management 
of  the  State  finances  led  to  political  changes. 
The  singular  character  of  the  loan  negotiation, 
and  its  more  singular  sequels,  led  to  serious 
charges  against  the  integrity  of  the  whole  trans- 
action ;  and  the  loss  of  some  moneys  never  fully 
explained  did  not  tend  to  remove  the  public  dis- 
content. The  Governor  incurred  heavy  censure 
for  his  imprudence  and  credulity.  The  charges 
of  personal  dishonesty  were  not  generally  accepted 
as  just.      When  he  died,  in   1843,  both  houses    of 


Chap.  XV.  i  REVISED   STATUTES.  509 

the  Legislature  passed  resolutions  of  respect  to 
his  memory,  and  sympathy  for  his  relatives,  and 
in  this  they  followed  the  general  sentiment.  His 
deficiencies  were  those  of  inexperience,  and  were 
not  mean  or  selfish.  His  abilities  were  much 
beyond  his  years. 

Chief  Justice  Fletcher  had  been  appointed  in 
1836  to  prepare  a  revised  code  of  laws.  It  was 
expected  that  this  would  be  merely  a  compilation 
of  existing  statutes,  with  such  changes  as  might  be 
needed  by  the  change  of  government.  Instead  of 
this  he  reported  a  volume  of  revised  statutes,  in 
the  shape  of  a  single  act,  divided  and  subdivided 
into  parts,  titles  and  chapters,  and  introducing 
some  novelties  and  much  confusion.  Among  other 
unexpected  changes  he  substituted  a  board  of 
county  commissioners  for  the  board  of  supervisors, 
and  omitted  to  do  away  with  imprisonment  for 
debt,  which  he  had  been  expressly  required  to  do. 
The  statutes  were  hastily  prepared,  and,  as  usual 
when  an  entirely  new  arrangement  is  adopted, 
they  omitted  many  things,  and  were  quite  imper- 
fect, abolishing  most  of  the  existing  general  laws, 
and  not  providing  adequately  for  the  matters  they 
had  regulated.  This  code  introduced  no  import- 
ant reforms  in  the  law  of  property  or  of  proced- 
ure, and  had  no  influence  in  that  direction.  It 
was,  however,  well  arranged,  and  perspicuous.  In 
1839,  the  year  after  it  took  effect,  a  great  many 
amendments  were  adopted  to  supply  its  deficien- 
cies.    One  very    important  subject    had    been    en- 


510 


REVISED  STATUTES.  [Chap.  XV. 


tirely  left  out.  Although  preparations  had  been 
made  some  years  before  for  the  erection  of  a 
penitentiary  or  State  prison,  and  it  had  been  lo- 
cated in  1837  and  partly  completed,  the  revised 
statutes  did  not  attempt  to  regulate  it.  A  non- 
imprisonment  act  was  also  passed  in  1839,  as  well 
as  laws  giving  power  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  to 
wind  up  insolvent  corporations.  In  1842,  the  board 
of  supervisors  was  restored  as  before.  The  repeat- 
ed amendments  had  produced  so  much  confusion 
that  in  March,  1844,  provision  was  again  made  for 
the  appointment  of  a  commissioner  to  consolidate 
and  revise  the  general  laws.  This  duty  was  per- 
formed by  Sanford  M.  Green,  who  has  since 
filled  the  highest  judicial  offices  in  the  State,  and 
was  reported  to  the  Legislature  in  1846.  Judge 
Green  had  incorporated  all  the  important  amend- 
atory legislation,  and  introduced  some  valuable  new 
features  tending  towards  liberality.  His  work  was 
somewhat  mangled  by  the  zeal  of  certain  so-called 
reformers,  whose  impartial  ignorance  of  law  enabled 
them  to  proceed  with  a  degree  of  confidence  not 
usually  shown  by  competent  legislators.  But  in 
many  particulars,  and  perhaps  in  most  of  the  more 
important  respects,  his  work  furnished  the  greater 
part  of  the  code  as  adopted,  and  has  ever  since 
remained  as  the  groundwork  of  our  legal  system. 
The  Constitution  of  1850  prohibited  any  further 
revisions. 

The  removal    of  the    Detroit  garrison  in   1826 
had  been  regarded  as  entirely  safe,  because  there 


Chap.  XV. 


PATRIOT   WAR.  511 


was  no  likelihood  of  further  complications  with  the 
Indians,  and  the  relations  with  Great  Britain  were 
satisfactory.  It  had  not  then  occurred  to  any  one 
that  there  might  be  occasion  to  protect  the  fron- 
tier from  lawless  violations  of  neutrality.  The 
United  States  Arsenal  had  been  removed  to 
Dearborn,  so  as  to  be  less  exposed.  In  1837,  tne 
Canadian  insurrection,  known  as  the  Patriot  War, 
broke  out,  and  for  a  time  kept  the  lines  in  tur- 
moil. Secret  lodges  of  sympathizers,  under  the 
name  of  Hunter's  Lodges,  held  meetings  in  sev- 
eral of  the  lake  cities.  During  the  fall  and  winter 
of  1837-8,  it  became  necessary  to  employ  the  mil- 
itary forces  of  the  State  to  prevent  the  seizure  of 
the  Arsenal,  and  to  patrol  the  frontier,  until  they 
could  be  relieved  by  the  regular  army.  The  move- 
ments on  the  Detroit  River  were  not  at  this  time 
very  important.  The  invading  forces  managed  to 
get  upon  Fighting  Island,  where  they  remained 
until  dislodged  by  artillery,  without  serious  casu- 
alties beyond  the  occasion  they  gave  for  the  des- 
truction of  the  fine  forest  on  Bois-blanc  Island. 
In  1838,  after  a  temporary  lull,  and  when  nothing 
was  suspected,  they  crossed  from  Detroit  to 
Windsor,  where  a  steamboat  was  burned,  and 
blood  was  shed  on  both  sides.  The  leaders  were 
captured,  and  several  of  them  were  banished. 

Some  questions  arising  concerning  the  condi- 
tion of  naturalized  citizens,  the  Michigan  Legisla- 
ture, in  1839,  memorialized  Congress  to  have 
measures  taken  to  secure  international  recognition 


512  NATURALIZATION.      FREE  SCHOOLS.  [Chap.  XV. 

of  the  right  of  expatriation  and  naturalization. 
This  has  been  done  within  a  few  years,  but  has 
left  the  subject  in  painful  uncertainty,  without  pro- 
viding adequately  for  furnishing  evidence  of  a 
change  of  country,  and  apparently  without  having 
given  any  heed  to  the  effect  of  such  legislation  on 
inheritances  and  escheats.  Few  subjects  require 
more  careful  handling;  and  while,  under  modern 
practice,  treason  is  not  much  considered  in  deter- 
mining the  policy  of  shifting  allegiance,  the  inter- 
ests of  minors  have  been  disregarded  also  ;  and, 
without  more  careful  action,  the  seeds  have  been 
sown  for  some  of  the  most  vexatious  litigation. 
There  are  so  many  American  children  born  or 
educated  abroad,  that  their  interests  need  special 
protection.  It  is  not  desirable,  on  grounds  of  un- 
iversal brotherhood,  to  destroy  the  sentiment  of 
patriotism. 

In  1842,  the  first  system  of  absolutely  free 
education  was  authorized  to  be  established  in 
Detroit,  Samuel  Barstow  and  Dr.  Zina  Pitcher, 
and  Douglass  Houghton,  were  the  most  efficient 
movers  in  this  matter,  although  sustained  and 
aided  by  many  worthy  coadjutors.  The  schools 
were  organized  and  advanced  with  much  effort, 
until  the  removal  of  the  Capital  to  Lansing  en- 
abled the  Board  of  Education  to  establish  a  union 
school  in  the  building  which  had  been  vacated, 
and  which  never  belonged  to  the  State.  The 
other  towns  in  the  State  had  been  equally  anxious 
to    advance    their    schools,  and    did    so    as  fast  as 


Chap.  XV.J  SCHOOLS.      RETRENCHMENT.  513 

possible.  The  superintendents  of  public  instruc- 
tion were  zealous  and  energetic,  and  John  D. 
Pierce,  the  first  in  time  and  not  second  in  en- 
lightened wisdom,  has  lived  to  see  the  system 
which  he  did  so  much  to  shape,  carried  out  to 
completeness.  He  was  followed  by  Franklin  Saw- 
yer, who  was  afterwards  selected  to  organize  the 
schools  of  Louisiana.  The  superintendents  who 
have  succeeded  them  have  been  faithful  and  val- 
uable officers.  The  lands  were  early  transferred 
to  the  keeping  of  the  State  Land  Office,  and 
the  superintendents  remitted  to  their  more  appro- 
priate functions. 

The  collapse  of  the  banking  system,  and  the 
misfortunes  attending  the  State  management  of 
internal  improvement,  led  of  necessity  to  a  re- 
linquishment of  the  latter,  and  a  return  to  a 
specie  basis.  In  1842,  the  State  reached  a  point 
where  there  was  nothing  left  but  to  begin  over 
again.  The  State  scrip  was  called  in,  the  suspen- 
sion of  specie  payments  rescinded,  shinplasters 
prohibited,  and  economy  introduced  in  all  things — 
beginning  notably  with  public  printing,  which  was 
reduced  to  its  narrowest  compass,  and  included 
no  documents  not  of  permanent  importance, — per- 
haps erring  in  this  somewhat.  A  donation  of 
500,000  acres  of  lands  for  internal  improvements 
was  received  from  the  United  States,  and  aided 
more  in  saving  past  investments  than  in  future 
expenditures.  It  has  been  doubted,  however, 
whether,  apart  from  the  school  and  University 
33 


514 


LOANS   RESTRICTED.      POLITICAL   CHANGES.  [Chap.  XV. 


funds,  the  State  has,  on  the  whole,  been  a  great 
gainer  by  the  donations  of  land  received  from 
the  United  States.  In  some  places  they  have  no 
doubt  hastened  improvements.  But,  justly  or  un- 
justly, there  have  been  several  periods  when  the 
integrity  of  the  management  of  many  of  the 
schemes  which  have  absorbed  them  has  been  very 
much  doubted,  and  in  some  instances  their  dis- 
posal has  been  fraudulent  in  the  extreme. 

In  order  to  prevent  any  further  extravagance, 
the  Legislature  of  1842  submitted,  and  the  next 
Legislature  and  the  people  ratified,  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution,  requiring  every  law  authoriz- 
ing the  borrowing  of  money  on  State  stocks  to 
be  confined  to  a  single  and  specified  object,  for 
which  alone  it  should  be  lawful  to  use  the  money, 
and  to  be  approved  by  a  popular  vote  at  a 
general  election.  A  judicious  exception  to  this 
(which  if  continued  under  the  Constitution  of  1850 
would  have  saved  much  trouble)  exempted  from 
this  necessity  loans  obtained  to  pay  the  actual 
executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  government  ex- 
penses, and  for  suppressing  insurrection,  repelling 
invasion,  and  defending  the  State  in  war. 

In  1839,  the  election  changed  the  political  con- 
trol of  the  State,  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of 
the  Whig  party,  William  Wroodbridge  being 
Governor,  and  James  Wright  Gordon  Lieutenant 
Governor.  The  Legislature  had  already  been 
changed  so  far  as  to  elect  Augustus  S.  Porter  as 
Senator,     to    succeed    Lucius    Lyon.       The    great 


Chai\  XV.]  GOVERNOR   BARRY.  515 

popular  uprising  which,  in  1840,  elected  William 
Henry  Harrison  to  the  Presidency,  had  secured 
him  a  large  following  in  Michigan,  where  many  of 
his  old  friends  and  admirers  of  the  Democratic 
party  as  well  as  Whigs  voted  for  him.  His  un- 
fortunate death,  and  the  quarrels  of  Congress 
with  his  successor  Mr.  Tyler,  produced  a  reaction, 
and  John  S.  Barry,  who  assumed  the  Governor- 
ship in  1842,  had  a  series  of  Democratic  suc- 
cessors, until  the  organization  of  the  Republican 
party  in  1854,  when  Kinsley  S.  Bingham  was 
chosen,  and  has  been  followed  ever  since  by 
Republican  Governors.  Governor  Woodbridge 
was  elected  Senator  to  succeed  Mr.  Norvell  in 
1 841,  by  a  coalition  of  Democrats  with  some 
members  of  the  Whig  party,  who  thus  defeated 
Lieutenant  Governor  Gordon,  the  nominee  of  the 
party.  Governor  Woodbridge  remained  in  the 
Senate  during  his  full  term  of  six  years,  after 
which  he  took  no  part  in  public  affairs. 

Governor  Barry  was  so  prominent  during  the 
remainder  of  his  career,  that  few  men  are  better 
remembered  among  our  State  officials.  He  was 
more  popular  in  his  later  than  in  his  earlier  in- 
cumbency, and  never  appeared  very  anxious  to 
seek  popularity.  His  political  views  were  some- 
what extreme,  and  at  times  he  became  very  ob- 
noxious to  his  opponents  on  that  ground ;  and 
many  regarded  his  public  economy  as  narrow  and 
parsimonious.  It  is  nevertheless  no  more  than 
justice  to  his  memory  to  vindicate   him    from    this 


f)16  GOVERNOR    BARRY.  [Chap.  XV. 

charge.  He  has  on  more  than  one  occasion 
manifested  the  most  liberal  views,  where  the 
public  good  required  liberality ;  and  it  was"  due 
to  the  combined  efforts  of  Governor  Barry  and 
Chancellor  Farnsworth  that  the  Insane  Asylum  at 
Kalamazoo  was  planned  on  a  broad  basis,  instead 
of  reduced  to  dimensions  and  surroundings  which 
would  have  rendered  it  abortive.  It  is  equally 
true,  (as  those  who  were  familiar  with  his  course 
while  ex-officio  presiding  officer  of  the  Board  of 
Regents  can  testify,)  that  he  was  one  of  the  best 
friends  the  University  ever  had,  and  that  he  never 
allowed  political  reasons  to  intrude  where  they 
did  not  belong.  It  never  was  the  fortune  of  the 
writer  to  agree  with  Governor  Barry  in  politics, 
but  he  cannot  justly  abstain  from  bearing  testi- 
mony that  he  was  not  the  mean  man  he  has  been 
sometimes  supposed  to  be,  and  that  the  State  and 
its  institutions  have  derived  lasting  benefit  from 
his  rigid  integrity  and  fidelity.  When  the  resources 
of- a  State  will  permit  liberal  outlays  for  laudable 
purposes,  parsimony  may  become  reprehensible. 
But  in  Governor  Barry's  early  official  career,  it 
required  the  utmost  economy  to  preserve  the 
public  credit  at  all ;  and  there  was  no  time  while 
he  was  in  office  when  it  was  not  desirable.  The 
recent  experiences  of  municipal  plundering  and 
venality  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  the 
waste  of  public  property  to  enable  knaves  to 
outshine  their  honest  neighbors,  have  not  indicated 
any  serious  danger  that  exactness  in  guarding  the 


Chap.  XV.]  CONDITION   OF   INDIANS.  517 

treasury    is    running    to    excess,    or    in    need    of 
discouragement. 

At  various  times,  from  1836  to  1842,  treaties 
had  been  made  with  the  Indians,  whereby  in  the 
latter  year  the  entire  tribal  titles  had  been  extin- 
guished, except  as  to  a  few  special  reservations. 
The  Indians  in  the  Lower  Peninsula  were  mostly 
removed  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It  had  long  been 
felt  that  it  was  unjust  to  prevent  them  from  hav- 
ing opportunities  of  civilization,  which  could  only 
be  obtained  by  giving  them  property  to  be  held 
individually,  and  not  by  communities.  The  L'Arbre 
Croche  Indians,  as  long  back  as  the  Pontiac  war, 
had  been  a  well-behaved  community,  and  had  pros- 
pered by  honest  industry.  In  1844,  the  Legislature 
requested  the  Michigan  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives to  endeavor  to  procure  for  them  the  position 
of  American  citizens.  In  1847,  tne  privilege  was 
asked  that  any  Indians  in  the  State  might  be  al- 
lowed to  pre-empt  and  retain  such  lands  as  they 
occupied  and  cultivated,  on  the  same  footing  with 
others.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  notice  that  the  per- 
sistent attempts  of  Michigan  to  secure  to  the  ori- 
ginal holders  of  the  soil  a  chance  to  become  civ- 
ilized possessors  of  homes  in  the  country  of  their 
fathers,  have  been  thwarted.  Although  by  the 
Constitution  of  1850,  the  resident  civilized  Indians, 
who  had  separated  from  their  tribes,  were  admitted 
to  the  privilege  of  voting,  yet  it  was  held  by  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  in  United  States  v. 
Holliday,   (3    Wallace,  40,)    that  it  was   impossible 


518 


TklBAL  RELATIONS.  [Chai>.  XV. 


for  an  Indian  to  withdraw  from  his  tribal  relations 
without  the  consent  of  the  United  States.  As  this 
must  be  accepted  as  law,  it  is  time  Congress 
changed  it.  While  we  assert  the  right  of  every- 
body else  to  go  where  he  pleases,  and  to  change 
his  allegiance  as  often  as  he  chooses,  it  seems 
that  the  guardianship  of  the  government  over 
these  persons  annihilates  their  free  agency,  and 
compels  them  to  barbarism,  no  matter  how  much 
they  may  desire  to  escape  it.  This  rule  has  a 
double  action,  which  was  very  well  exemplified  in 
1840,  in  the  partially  successful  efforts  of  the 
British  agents  at  the  Manitoulins  to  draw  over 
Indian  colonists  into  Canada.  They  proposed  to 
include  the  Michigan  half-breed  settlers  as  Indians, 
in  their  distribution  of  presents.  In  a  meeting  of 
Indians  and  half-breeds,  in  May,  1840,  on  the 
Canada  side  of  the  Sault,  Shingwauk,  the  head 
chief,  referred  to  this  as  a  part  of  the  scheme  of 
such  a  colony.  Addressing  the  American  Indians, 
he  said :  "  Whether  the  thing  you  ask  from  the 
British  government  will  be  granted  or  not,  we  do 
not  know,  but  if  the  half-breeds  will  consent  to 
be  under  us  as  Indians,  we  hope  it  will  be  granted. 
This  is  what  our  fathers  told  us.  The  half-breeds 
on  our  side  have  nearly  all  consented."  Where 
the  mixed  blood  is  in  even  quantities,  it  is  not 
irrational  for  Indians  as  well  as  white  men  to 
claim  its  allegiance. 

A    serious    trouble    arose    in    1841,    from    the 
discovery    that    a    considerable   quantity    of  public 


Chap.  XV.  J       FRAUDULENT   SURVEYS.      NAMES  OF  COUNTIES. 


519 


lands  put  in  market,  including  eighty-one  townships 
lying  mostly  north  and  west  of  the  Saginaw  Bay, 
had  never  been  surveyed,  but  had  been  platted 
and  returned  on  fictitious  surveys.  This  discovery 
was  first  suggested  by  the  State  Topographer, 
Mr.  Higgins,  who  found,  in  protracting  his  State 
map,  that  the  lakes  and  water  courses  in  the  region 
in  question  presented  the  appearance  of  a  very 
symmetrical  tree,  with  leaves  and  branches  so 
very  regular  that  it  seemed  unlikely  the  country 
could  be  truly  represented.  The  Legislature,  in 
1842,  called  the  attention  of  the  government  to 
the  fact,  and  to  the  fraud  that  would  be  thereby 
committed  on  purchasers  whose  lands  were  not 
to  be  found. 

In  1840  Indian  names  were  given  to  twenty- 
nine  of  the  northern  counties  in  the  Lower  Pe- 
ninsula, many  of  which  were  names  of  distinguished 
chiefs,  who  had  signed  the  treaties  made  at  differ- 
ent times  since  the  Revolution.  In  1843,  sixteen 
of  these  were  re-named.  In  one  case  a  Michigan 
Indian  name  was  changed  for  a  Florida  chief's 
name,  Osceola.  Anamickee,  or  Thunder,  the  ap- 
propriate name  for  the  county  including  Thunder 
Bay,  (and  the  name  of  a  chief,)  was  transmogri- 
fied into  Alpena — perhaps  a  phonetic  rendering 
of  Alpina,  if  dime  novels  were  then  extant.  Five 
were  borrowed  from  Ireland,  one  from  New  York, 
one  (Montmorency)  might  have  been  suggested 
from  several  quarters,  and  the  remainder  were  of 
no    special    significance.       Kishkauko,    the    patro- 


520  MARRIED  WOMEN.      TEXAS  AND  OREGON.      [Chap.  XV. 

nymic  of  the  head  chief  of  Saginaw  for  over  a 
century,  was  exchanged  for  Charlevoix — a  very 
proper  name,  but  one  which  might  have  been 
dropped  elsewhere  as  well.  The  reason  for  this 
is  not  known. 

In  1844,  an  important  step  was  taken,  by  se- 
curing to  married  women  their  property  (real  and 
personal)  free  from  the  control  of  their  husbands. 
This  has  since  been  fixed  by  the  Constitution. 

The  Legislature,  for  two  or  three  successive 
years,  expressed  itself  in  favor  of  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  and  the  assertion  of  the  Oregon  title 
up  to  fifty-four  degrees  and  forty  minutes  of 
north  latitude.  That  boundary  was  left  unsettled 
by  Mr.  Webster  in  the  Ashburton  treaty  of  1842, 
but  compromised  by  Mr.  Buchanan  by  the  Treaty 
of  1846,  in  which  it  was  brought  down  to  the 
forty-ninth  parallel.  Unfortunately,  the  careless 
use  of  language  created  another  ambiguity  in  the 
San  Juan  de  Fuca  boundary  on  the  Pacific,  which 
was  recently  decided  in  favor  of  the  United  States 
by  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  after  nearly  thirty 
years'  dispute.  We  have  been  singularly  unfor- 
tunate in  not  getting  our  boundary  treaties  with 
Great  Britain  so  as  to  make  the  lines  definite 
and  unambiguous. 

In  1846,  the  State  disposed  of  the  Central  and 
Southern  Railroads,  and  ceased  to  own  any  pub- 
lic works,  (as  she  has  since  kept  aloof  from  them,) 
and  left  the  building  of  railroads  to  private  en- 
terprise, which    is    much    better    adapted    to    their 


Chap.  XV.]  MEXICAN  WAR.      COUNTY  COURTS. 


521 


management    than    the    agencies    of  a    republican 
government. 

In  that  year  the  Mexican  war  broke  out.  While 
there  was  much  difference  of  opinion  about  the 
acquisition  of  Texas,  there  was  none  about  the 
duty  of  Americans  to  maintain  their  country 
against  the  assaults  of  her  enemies.  The  call 
for  volunteers  was  readily  responded  to,  and  the 
Michigan  soldiers,  both  volunteers  and  regulars,  did 
no  discredit  to  the  State.  Resolutions  were 
adopted  by  the  Legislature  in  1847,  asserting  the 
right  of  the  United  States,  and  urging  the  ener- 
getic prosecution  of  the  war ;  expressing  admira- 
tion for  the  conduct  of  the  army  on  the  Rio 
Grande  and  at  Monterey ;  declaring  it  the  duty 
of  the  nation  to  extend  the  free  principles  of  the 
ordinance  of  1787  over  any  territory  which  should 
be  acquired,  and  voting  money  for  the  equipment 
of  volunteers. 

About  this  time  a  considerable  change  was 
made  in  the  judicial  system.  For  three  or  four 
years  a  majority  of  the  legal  business  of  the 
State  was  required  to  be  brought  into  county 
courts,  with  elected  judges,  paid  at  first  by  fees, 
and  afterwards  by  a  discretionary  salary  from  the 
county  treasury.  These  courts  were  introduced 
on  an  idea  that  they  would  render  justice  speedily, 
cheaply  and  satisfactorily.  In  some  counties  able 
men  presided  in  them,  and  gave  satisfaction.  This, 
however,  was  not  so  general  as  to  be  customary, 
and  the  method  of  doing    business  deprived    par- 


522  JUDICIAL  SYSTEM.  [Chap.  XV. 

ties  of  some  of  the  most  important  legal  safe- 
guards to  the  impartial  selection  of  juries.  Nei- 
ther delays  nor  expenses  were  lessened,  but,  in 
the  end,  increased,  as  every  needless  intermediate 
tribunal  has  always  been  found  to  operate.  They 
did  not  in  many  counties  command  respect,  and 
became  disorderly.  When  the  constitution  of 
1850  was  adopted  they  were,  by  universal  consent, 
discontinued  as  worse  than  failures. 

The  revision  of  1846  abolished  the  court  of 
chancery,  and  transferred  the  disposition  of  equity 
cases  to  the  circuit  courts.  This  plan  has  worked 
very  well — its  only  drawback  being  the  incapacity 
of  some  county  clerks  to  keep  their  records  and 
business  in  proper  shape,  and  the  habit  which 
sometimes  prevails  of  unduly  postponing  equity 
hearings  to  accommodate  the  common  law  issues. 
Our  system  has  become  so  far  simplified  that  the 
unnecessary  distinctions  between  law  and  equity 
have  mostly  disappeared,  and  equity  proceedings 
are  only  flexible  remedies  to  reach  the  cases  which 
cannot  properly  be  tried  on  common-law  issues. 
Facilities  exist  for  having  juries  pass  upon  such 
facts  as  may  require  it,  without  the  old  necessity 
of  having  them  sent  before  another  tribunal.  It 
is  very  much  safer  to  have  cases  of  all  kinds  dis- 
posed of  before  courts  familiar  with  all  departments 
of  the  law.  Those  courts  have  always  acted  most 
judiciously  where  legal  and  equitable,  and  civil 
and  criminal,  questions  are  all  subject  to  decision. 
To  make  any  system  of  laws  work  well,  there  must 


Chap.  XV.]  RtTLES  OF  EVIDENCE.  523 

be  harmony  among  all  its  departments ;  and 
specialists  are  often  unsafe  counsellors,  because 
they  give  undue  importance  to  their  subjects,  and 
magnify  forms  and  multiply  distinctions  beyond 
reason,  while  they  are  peculiarly  disposed  to  in- 
dulge in  theories  of  conduct  that  ignore  the  in- 
finite variety  of  human  action. 

The  revision  of  1846  began  some  valuable  re- 
forms in  the  rules  of  evidence,  which  have  now 
been  carried  still  further.  Witnesses  were  no 
longer  excluded  from  testifying  by  reason  of  in- 
terest, opinion,  or  character,  but  all  such  objec- 
tions were  made  to  go  to  their  credibility ;  and 
juries  and  courts  were  allowed,  if  they  believed 
their  statements,  to  act  upon  them.  The  old  rules 
were  senseless,  and  well  calculated  to  defeat  the 
ends  of  justice.  The  only  rules  of  exclusion  that 
rest  on  real  and  sensible  reasons  of  policy,  are 
those  which  prevent  parties  from  violating  confi- 
dences, and  from  criminating  themselves.  The 
revision  wisely  recognized  this,  in  protecting  the 
confidences  of  patients  to  physicians,  and  religious 
confidences,  as  well  as  those  of  lawyers  and  clients, 
and  in  the  domestic  relations  of  husband  and  wife. 
The  necessity  of  encouraging  fidelity  in  confiden- 
tial relations,  is  much  greater  than  that  of  encour- 
aging litigation  ;  and  rules  which  would  destroy 
manly  honor  and  private  faith  would  be  poorly 
compensated  by  the  small  occasional  gain  that  might 
ensue  to  persons  contending  in  the  courts,  by  en- 
larging their  field  of  inquisitiveness. 


524  CAPITAL   PUNTSHMENT  ABOLISHED.  [Chap    XV. 

This  revision  also  enabled  parties  in  some 
cases  to  obtain  the  testimony  of  their  adversaries 
in  law  courts,  whenever  it  could  have  been  ob- 
tained for  the  same  purpose  by  bill  of  discovery 
in  equity.  This  was  only  one  step  towards  the 
entire  removal  of  the  disability  of  parties  to  testify 
like  other  witnesses, — a  measure  which  has  been 
approved  by  experience. 

The  greatest  change  in  criminal  law  was  the 
abolition  of  capital  punishment.  The  previous 
laws  in  regard  to  felonies  had,  during  the  earlier 
Territorial  days,  confined  the  death-penalty  to 
murder.  This  crime  had  then  been  divided  into 
degrees.  Murder  in  the  first  degree,  which  em- 
braced only  the  more  deliberate  and  cruel  kinds 
of  murder,  was  punished  by  death,  while  murder 
in  the  second  degree  was  subject  to  a  graduated 
and  partly  discretionary  imprisonment.  The  crime 
of  murder  in  the  first  degree  was  now  made 
punishable  by  imprisonment  for  life,  with  no  dis- 
cretion to  reduce  it.  The  statistics  of  crime  have 
never  been  so  thoroughly  intelligible  that  any  one 
can  determine  very  safely  what  effect  this  change 
has  had.  It  is  very  doubtful  how  far  the  degree 
of  punishment  has  any  direct  bearing  on  the 
minds  of  those  who  commit  this  atrocious  crime. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  an  indirect  influence  exercised 
on  public  opinion  by  all  penal  statutes,  which 
reaches  criminals  and  innocent  persons  alike,  and 
produces  some  effect  on  their  estimate  of  conduct. 
But  very  few  have    been    known    to    calculate   on 


Chap.  XV. J      CAPITAL   PUNISHMENT.      ELECTIVE  JUDGES  525 

the  measure  of  punishment,  before  committing 
homicide,  or  other  violent  assaults.  There  has 
been  no  popular  or  general  expression  which 
would  indicate  a  desire  to  restore  the  death  pen- 
alty, and  it  is  questionable  whether,  if  existing,  it 
would  be  disturbed,  if  left  to  a  popular  vote. 
The  change  made  in  1846  was  not  either  demanded 
or  condemned  by  the  general  sentiment.  Murders 
had  not  been  common  in  the  State,  and  then,  as 
now,  whatever  opinions  there  were  upon  the  sub- 
ject were  not  the  result  of  study  or  experience, 
but  rather  of  pre-existing  ideas  and  differing 
theories.  The  circumstances  of  individual  crimes 
are  so  different  that  criminal  statistics  are  among 
the  least  valuable  means  of  reaching  safe  conclu- 
sions on  the  relations  of  crime  and  punishment ; 
and  few  subjects  attract  less  public  attention  than 
the  bulk  of  criminal  legislation.  The  Criminal 
Statutes  of  the  United  States  have  seldom  called 
forth  any  debate  in  Congress,  and  State  laws  of 
the  same  kind  are  very  apt  to  be  adopted  with- 
out much  discussion.  A  change  so  radical  as  the 
removal  of  the  gallows  from  among  the  instru- 
ments of  punishment  could  not  fail  to  create  much 
comment,  but  it  did  not  elicit  any  full  expression 
of  popular  feeling. 

The  Supreme  Court,  which  began  with  three 
judges,  was  increased  in  1838  to  four,  and  in  1848 
to  five;  and  in  1849  a  constitutional  amendment 
was  proposed,  (and  afterwards  adopted)  making 
them   elective. 


526  UPPER    PENINSULA.  [Chap.  XV. 

The  Upper  Peninsula,  although  the  Pndian 
title  was  extinguished  in  1842,  remained  unsettled 
for  some  time.  The  want  of  shipping  on  the  lake 
prevented  the  development  of  business,  and  the 
want  of  business  prevented  the  building  of  vessels. 
Without  a  canal  to  give  communication  below,  it 
seemed  likely  the  opening  of  this  country  would 
be  indefinitely  postponed.  Year  after  year  the 
Legislature  urged  the  matter  before  Congress, 
and  more  than  one  effort  was  made  to  secure  a 
right  of  way  for  a  corporation  to  build  the  canal. 
Some  malign  influence  baulked  every  effort,  until 
one  might  imagine  the  Military  Reserve  and  all  its 
surroundings  were  too  hallowed  ground  for 
commerce  to  tread.  In  the  face  of  these  obstruc- 
tions, nothing  was  left  but  to  wait  patiently  until 
interests  should  appear,  which  would  be  influen- 
tial enough  to  overcome  the  mischief. 

A  first  essential  to  settlement  was  a  complete 
survey  of  the  lands,  or  of  enough  to  furnish  a 
foothold  for  business.  The  early  explorations  of 
Dr.  Houghton  had  determined  the  true  character 
of  the  mineral  region,  but  his  revelations  were  so 
remarkable  as  to  disturb  scientific  theories,  and 
that  was  a  serious  affair  not  to  be  lightly  accepted. 
In  his  earlier  excursions  he  found  it  impossible  to 
make  complete  surveys  upon  the  ground,  because 
the  compass-needle  was  subject  to  such  great  and 
varying  fluctuations  as  to  render  it  inefficient. 
This  difficulty  was  removed  by  the  genius  of  a 
Michigan  scientific  inventor,  William  A.  Burt,  who 


Chap.  XV. J         SOLAR   COMPASS       COMBINED  SURVEYS.  527 

had  been  for  many  years  prominent  as  a  govern- 
ment surveyor  and  engineer,  and  who  devised  a 
simple  and  elegant  instrument  which  was  indepen- 
dent of  magnetic  disturbances.  This  was  the  now 
well  known  solar  compass.  This  remarkable  in- 
vention not  only  furnished  the  means  of  determin- 
ing at  a  glance  a  true  meridian,  but  had  combined 
with  it  various  other  functions,  which  made  it,  in 
a  compact  form,  one  of  the  most  useful  pieces  of 
scientific  mechanism  ever  put  together.  By  means 
of  this  the  work  of  the  mineral  land  surveys  be- 
came easy  and  accurate.  At  the  same  time  Dr. 
Houghton  devised  another  plan  —  so  simple  that 
the  stupidity  which  failed  to  appreciate  it  is 
marvellous  —  of  combining  the  linear  with  the 
geological  survey,  and  carrying  all  on  together. 
This  would  be  more  economical  than  any  other, 
and  would  locate  with  exactness  every  important 
discovery. 

The  public  surveys  in  Michigan  were  carried 
on  under  a  system  devised  originally  for  the 
Northwest  Territory.  A  principal  meridian  line 
was  first  run,  and  a  principal  base  line  upon  a 
parallel  of  latitude.  All  the  surveys  were  made  so 
as  to  be  reckoned  east  or  west  of  the  meridian, 
and  north  or  south  of  the  base.  The  survey  dis- 
trict was  divided  off  into  townships,  nominally  six 
miles  square,  but  always  narrower  at  the  north 
than  at  the  south  side,  because  of  the  conver- 
gence of  the  bounding  meridians.  Each  township 
was  divided  into  thirty-six  sections,  nominally  one 


528  DOCTOR   HOUGHTON'S  SYSTEM.  [Chap.  XV. 

mile  square,  but  really  affected  by  the  same  con- 
vergence, except  that,  instead  of  the  loss  being 
distributed  equally  among  all  the  sections,  it  was 
thrown  upon  the  north  and  west  sides  of  the  town- 
ship. The  more  rapid  convergence  of  the  lines 
as  they  approached  higher  latitudes  rendered  it 
necessaYy  to  adopt  at  intervals  new,  or  correction- 
al bases,  from  which  to  run  the  town  lines  north- 
ward. Each  section  was  divisible  into  sixteenths, 
but  was  not  usually  surveyed  in  fact  into  these 
minute  divisions,  but  lines  were  run  at  half  mile 
intervals.  Dr.  Houghton's  plan  was  to  have  on 
these  lines,  or  on  still  more  frequent  subdividing 
lines  when  necessary,  notes  taken  of  everything 
of  geological  value,  and  of  its  exact  position,  and 
if  not  exactly  on  the  line,  to  have  its  bearings 
and  distances  noted.  In  this  way,  when  the  maps 
were  made  up  from  the  surveyor's  notes,  every 
mineral  bed  or  other  important  object  would  ap- 
pear in  its  exact  place,  and  could  be  located  and 
followed  up  without  difficulty  at  any  time,  if  a  more 
thorough  examination  by  the  geologist  should  be 
required,  without  loss  of  time,  in  new  explorations. 
Mr.  Burt,  who  was  a  good  explorer  and  a  man 
of  science,  at  once  appreciated  the  value  of  this 
plan.  Dr.  Houghton  succeeded  in  obtaining  au- 
thority from  the  General  Land  Office  to  try  its 
efficacy,  and  undertook  the  survey  in  person,  in 
company  with  Mr.  Burt,  and  other  competent  as- 
sistants. The  work  was  done  with  the  facility  and 
exactness  which  he  anticipated.     But  at  the    close 


Chap.  XV.  I  HOUGHTON'S   DEATH.      MINING. 


529 


of  his  first  season,  on  the  13th  of  October,  1845, 
Dr.  Houghton  was  overtaken  by  a  storm  while  in 
a  small  boat  near  Eagle  River,  and  perished.  All 
the  important  notes  of  his  season's  work  were  lost 
with  him.  His  death  was  deeply  mourned  through- 
out the  State.  It  was  an  irreparable  loss  to  the 
Upper  Peninsula,  for  his  place  was  not  filled  by 
those  who  partook  his  views  or  believed  in  his 
plans ;  and  a  system  which  with  diligence  and  sa- 
gacity was  feasible,  and  in  all  respects  admirable, 
was  dropped.  All  the  subsequent  explorations 
have  been  independent  and  fragmentary. 

Enough  was  now  known  to  stimulate  mining 
enterprise.  The  United  States,  in  advance  of 
further  complete  surveys,  issued  permits  or  licenses 
to  locate  tracts  of  land  for  mining  purposes,  and 
leases  were  granted  of  these  locations,  which  were 
surveyed  in  a  rectangular  form,  but  seldom  exactly 
conforming  to  the  survey  lines  subsequently  estab- 
lished. Companies  were  formed  to  work  these 
locations,  and  the  remarkable  developments  soon 
created  a  great  excitement,  until  mining  companies 
furnished  a  greater  source  of  speculation  than 
wildcat  banking.  Nevertheless  the  companies 
very  generally  were  got  up  for  actual  mining,  and 
spent  much  time  and  money  in  developing  their 
property.  The  .earliest  companies  were  not  incor- 
porated. In  1847,  the  Legislature  remonstrated 
against  the  action  of  the  government  in  leaving 
the  rights  of  these  lessees  in  a  condition  of  un- 
certainty, and  urged  that  such  action  be  had  as 
34 


530  MINING   DIFFICULTIES.  [Chap.  XV. 

to    remove    doubts    as    to  their  title.      The    lands 
were  afterwards  sold  and  conveyed  in  fee  simple. 

The  supplies  to  the  early  mines  were  taken 
up  to  the  Sault  by  vessels  or  steamboats.  There 
they  were  carted,  and  afterwards  carried  upon  a 
short  tram-railway,  to  the  head  of  the  rapids,  and 
taken  further  by  coasting  boats,  until  a  vessel  or 
two  could  be  obtained.  The  first  propellers  and 
steamers  on  Lake  Superior,  were  moved  past 
the  Rapids  in  a  sort  of  cradle  or  frame,  on  rollers. 
In  1 85 1,  or  1852,  the  last  of  these  steamers,  the 
Sam  Ward,  was  taken  over  in  the  same  way.  From 
the  landing-  places  the  supplies  were  taken  back 
to  the  mines  on  pack-horses  or  mules  in  summer, 
and  with  dog-trains  or  sleds  in  winter.  The 
mineral,  until  roads  were  made,  came  down  to  the 
landings  chiefly  during  the  winter  on  sleds. 

The  enormous  expense  of  supplies,  and  the 
loss  of  money  by  inexperience  and  extravagance, 
rendered  most  of  the  first  enterprises  costly,  and 
many  of  them  were  ruinous.  But  the  spirit  of 
enterprise  was  proof  against  all  these  trials,  and 
the  country  became  a  scene  of  busy  labor  and 
great  activity.  Its  early  settlers,  as  was  natural 
in  such  a  region,  were  men  of  intelligence  and 
enlarged  ideas,  and  their  influence  has  been  per- 
manent. Few  countries  have  had  a  larger  share 
of  valuable  citizens,  or  a  smaller  number  of 
drones  or  paupers. 

After  the  sale  of  the  railroads,  and  the  re- 
newal of  activity  in  business*  which  had  begun  to 


Chap.  XV .J  ASYLUMS. 


531 


bring  out  the  public  resources  more  evidently,  the 
attention  of  the  people  was  turned  to  some  objects 
which  had  been  neglected,  chiefly  from  want  of 
means.  At  this  time  the  penitentiary  at  Jackson 
was  the  principal  institution  directly  maintained  by 
the  State.  The  number  of  persons  disabled  from 
ordinary  pursuits  began  to  attract  consideration. 
In  1848,  preliminary  steps  were  taken  to  provide 
asylums  for  the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind,  and  for 
the  insane.  Commissioners  were  appointed  to 
select  locations,  and  erect  buildings,  and  put  the 
institutions  in  operation  ;  and  eight  sections  of  salt 
lands  were  appropriated.  At  that  time  the  number 
of  such  asylums  in  the  United  States  was  not 
large,  and  their  requirements  were  not  well  under- 
stood. The  Board  determined,  before  doing  more, 
to  get  such  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  different 
asylums  as  would  enable  them  to  act  discreetly, 
and  to  secure  such  further  appropriations  as  they 
should  find  necessary.  Chancellor  Farnsworth 
visited  in  person  all  the  institutions  of  that  kind 
in  the  United  States.  Dr.  Pitcher  and  Mr.  Bela 
Hubbard  had  made  a  study  of  the  treatment  of 
insanity,  and  were  well  informed  upon  the  con- 
dition of  the  principal  asylums.  The  Insane 
Asylum  had  received  liberal  offers  at  Kalamazoo, 
including  a  tract  of  ten  acres,  which  was  by  many 
supposed  to  be  large  enough.  Governor  Barry 
and  Chancellor  Farnsworth  secured  the  selection 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  by  agreeing  to 
retain  it  if  not  confirmed,  and  finally  it  was  wisely 


532  ASYLUMS.      UNIVERSITY.      NORMAL  SCHOOL.  |CHAr.  XV. 

determined  by  the  Legislature  to  appropriate 
enough  not  only  to  procure  this  land,  which  was 
a  good  bargain,  but  to  build  a  very  different 
building  from  what  at  first  they  had  been  disposed 
to  provide  for.  In  due  time  it  was  finished  and 
equipped,  and,  under  its  accomplished  superinten- 
dent Dr.  Van  Duzen,  has  been  well  managed  and 
very  successful  in  curing  or  alleviating  the  maladies 
of  many  patients,  whose  lives  have  been  lightened 
by  its  kindly  ministrations.  The  Asylum  for  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb,  and  the  Blind,  was  established 
at  Flint  under  similar  precautions,  and  has  done 
great  good. 

The  University  graduated  its  first  academic 
class  in  June,  1845.  Thereafter  it  continued  to 
grow  steadily.  In  1848,  the  Medical  Department 
was  organized,  which  in  a  few  years  took  rank 
with  the  best  in  the  country.  The  union  school 
system  was  becoming  popular,  and  it  was  found 
important  to  provide  a  training  school  for  teach- 
ers. Normal  schools  were  as  yet  experimental, 
and  the  statute  of  1849,  which  established  the 
State  Normal  School,  gave  to  the  Board  of 
Education  a  wide  discretion  as  to  its  system.  Its 
object  was  not  only  to  impart  such  knowledge  as 
would  benefit  teachers  already  well  educated,  but 
to  educate  them.  Instruction  was  also  to  be  given 
in  the  mechanic  arts,  in  agricultural  knowledge 
and  science,  and  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
country,  and  other  matters  bearing  on  the  duties 
of  citizens.     This  school  was  established    at    Ypsi- 


Chap.  XV.]  LAND   OFFICE.      CAPITAL.  533 

lanti,  and  has  been  continued  on  a  comprehensive 
plan,  which  is  undoubtedly  wiser  than  confining  it 
to  the  machinery  and  tactics  which  to  some  minds 
seem  to  make  up  the  equipment  of  teachers. 
The  Board  of  Education  was  found  to  be  a  valu- 
able body  for  other  public  purposes,  and  has  suc- 
ceeded to  a  large  course  of  duties. 

In  1843,  tne  State  lands,  apart  from  the  educa- 
tional and  special  funds,  had  become  important 
property,  and  a  State  Land  Office  was  established, 
which  had  control  given  to  it  of  the  entire  body 
of  State  lands,  whether  held  in  trust  or  otherwise. 
The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  was  re- 
lieved from  the  care  of  lands.  The  office  was 
fixed  at  Marshall,  where  it  remained  until  removed 
to  Lansing,  under  an  act  of  1849. 

Several  colleges  were  from  time  to  time  created 
under  special  charters,  in  different  parts  of  the 
State.  Some  of  them  became  quite  successful 
and  some  still  remain  so.  The  great  portion  of 
them  never  kept  up  their  organization. 

The  Constitution  of  1835  ^ft  tne  temporary 
location  of  the  State  Capital  subject  to  legislative 
discretion  until  1847,  when  it  was  to  be  per- 
manently located.  When  that  time  came  there 
was  much  difficulty  in  agreeing  upon  any  of  the 
existing  towns,  several  of  which  received  consider- 
able support,  but  none  a  majority.  A  suggestion 
was  finally  made  to  locate  it  near  the  geographical 
centre  of  the  State,  without  selecting  a  town  of 
present  importance,  and  it  was  fixed    in  the  town 


534  CAPITAL  REMOVED  TO  LANSING.  [CHAr.  XV. 

of  Lansing,  in  Ingham  County.  Proposals  had 
been  made  by  parties  interested  in  that  township 
to  procure  its  location  on  their  lands.  The  Legis- 
lature determined,  however,  to  require  its  location 
by  disinterested  commissioners,  who  might  consider 
the  proposals  made  by  those  parties  or  any  others, 
but  were  to  act  on  their  own  best  judgment. 
The  school  section  in  that  township  had  not  been 
sold,  and,  as  it  was  a  very  eligible  spot,  it  was 
determined  to  place  the  Capital  there.  This  not 
only  gave  the  school-fund  the  benefit  of  having 
the  seat  of  government  laid  out  upon  it,  but  was 
probably  as  good  a  choice  as  could  have  been 
made.  The  position  is  handsome  and  well  adapted 
to  a  city.  Although  its  isolation  retarded  its 
growth,  it  is  now  increasing  rapidly,  and  in  the 
road  to  prosperity.  A  Capitol  building  was  put 
up  in  a  very  few  months,  and  intended  to  serve 
but  a  temporary  purpose ;  while  a  larger  and 
finer  building-site  was  set  apart  for  the  future 
permanent  edifice.  Fortunately  the  temporary 
building  was  retained  until  the  State  was  disposed 
to  substitute  another  worthy  of  permanence  ;  and 
before  the  end*  of  the  coming  year  the  entire 
business  of  the  commonwealth  will  be  centred  in 
a  large  and  stately  Capitol,  fair  in  its  proportions, 
and  having,  if  as  well  managed  hereafter  as  here- 
tofore, no  reminder  of  fraud  or  peculation  to  mar 
the  popular  pride  in  the  undertaking.  All  the 
moneys  devoted  to  it  have  been  honestly  and 
faithfully  expended. 


Chap.  XV.]  NEW  CONSTITUTION  CONTEMPLATED. 


535 


There  were  several  circumstances  which  led  the 
minds  of  the  people  towards  a  revision  of  the  Con- 
stitution. It  could  have  been  amended  easily,  but 
it  was  supposed  a  new  instrument  might  be  made 
more  homogeneous.  Probably  the  chief  cause  of 
the  change  was  the  vague  desire  that  sometimes 
gets  abroad  to  revolutionize  or  alter  affairs,  without 
any  fixed  plan  or  object.  Other  States  had  made 
sweeping  revisions,  and  Michigan  should  follow 
them.  There  were,  nevertheless,  some  subjects  on 
which  there  had  been  agitation  and  warmth. 

By  amendments  already  in  force,  the  power  to 
borrow  money  had  been  much  circumscribed,  and 
the  cabinet  officers  as  well  as  judges  had  been 
made  elective,  thus  divorcing  the  Governor  from 
the  rest  of  the  executive  department,  and  destroy- 
ing his  chief  executive  function  and  responsibility. 
It  was  still  claimed  that  he  had  influence  remain- 
ing that  might  be  used  corruptly  or  unfairly  for 
his  own  benefit,  and  that  the  Legislature  were  also 
exposed  to  sinister  influences.  The  charges  which 
were  bandied  about,  if  they  had  any  force,  would 
almost  go  to  demonstrate  the  failure  of  free  gov- 
ernment entirely.  But,  such  as  they  were,  they 
had  some  weight  in  the  adoption  of  a  constitution, 
with  many  very  good  features,  but  which  intimates 
from  first  to  last  that  no  one  is  to  be  trusted. 

The  abuse  of  the  appointing  power  had  been 
prevented  by  taking  it  away.  But  there  is  little 
in  the  history  of  Michigan  to  indicate  its  abuse. 
There    had    been    a  series  of   senatorial    elections, 


536  SUPPOSED  ABUSES.  [Chap.  XV. 

which  are  not  believed  to  have  been  the  result  of 
any  peculiar  executive  influence,  but  which  were 
in  the  heat  of  discussion  charged  to  that,  and 
which  led  to  a  constitutional  inhibition  against  the 
selection  of  a  governor  as  senator.  This,  however, 
has  been  regarded  as  beyond  the  popular  control, 
and  inoperative.  The  succession  of  the  Senate  is 
a  proper  item  of  State  history,  and  was  as  follows. 
As  already  seen,  Lucius  Lyon  and  John  JMorvell 
were  elected  Senators  in  1835.  By  the  allotment 
in  the  Senate  when  they  were  admitted,  Mr. 
Lyon's  term  was  made  to  expire  in  1839,  and  Mr. 
Norvell's  in  1841.  The  Legislature  of  1839  e'ec- 
ted  Mr.  Porter,  a  Whig, — Mr.  Mason,  the  Gover- 
nor, being  a  Democrat.  In  1841,  the  Whig  Leg- 
islative nomination  was  given  to  Mr.  Gordon,  the 
Lieutenant  Governor  ;  but  a  secret  arrangement 
was  made  by  the  Democratic  members  with  some 
Whig  members  to  support  Governor  Woodbridge, 
who  was  elected.  The  next  vacancy  occurred  in 
1845,  when  the  Democrats  were  in  power,  and 
John  S.  Barry  was  Governor.  Mr.  Porter,  of 
course,  was  left  out.  General  Cass  had  returned 
to  Michigan,  and  had  been  in  1844  prominent  be- 
fore the  Democratic  National  Convention  as  a 
Presidential  candidate ;  and,  through  Mr,  Van 
Buren's  influence,  had  been  defeated  by  Mr.  Polk. 
He  was  so  manifestly  the  proper  man  for  senator 
that  he  was  elected  at  once.  In  1847,  when  Gov- 
ernor Woodbridge  retired,  Alpheus  Felch  was 
Governor.     He    had    been    Auditor    General    and 


Chap.  XV.]  SENATORIAL  ELECTIONS.  537 

Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  resigning  his  latter 
office  upon  his  election  as  Governor,  in  the  fall 
of  1845.  The  Legislature  of  1847  elected  Gover- 
nor Felch  to  the  Senate.  This  was  the  second 
instance  of  a  governor  thus  honored. 

In  1847,  Epaphroditus  Ransom,  then  Chief 
Justice,  was  elected  Governor,  and  assumed  his 
executive  duties  in  January,  1848.  General  Cass 
was  that  spring  nominated  for  the  Presidency 
against  General  Zachary  Taylor,  and  resigned  his 
seat  in  the  Senate.  The  Legislature  was  not  in 
session,  and  the  power  of  appointment  fell  to  the 
Governor,  who  appointed  Thomas  Fitzgerald  to 
fill  the  vacancy  until  the  Legislature  should  meet. 
It  was  then  thought,  by  those  who  anticipated  the 
election  of  General  Cass,  that  Governor  Ransom 
would  become  the  colleague  in  the  Senate  of  his 
predecessor  in  both  offices,  Governor  Felch. 
General  Taylor's  election,  as  it  did  not  change 
Michigan  politics,  left  General  Cass  again  the 
most  suitable  choice  for  the  Senate,  and  he  was 
again  elected  by  common  consent.  No  other 
Senatorial  elections  took  place  until  after  the 
new  Constitution  took  effect. 

In  these  cases  Governor  Woodbridge  was 
elected  by  the  opposing  party,  and  Governor 
Felch  never  was  suspected  of  being  elected  on 
any  ground  but  his  fitness  for  the  place.  The 
fear  that  one  office  would  be  used  to  obtain 
another,  was  not  based  on  any  actual  success  of 
that  kind.       But    when    people  become  suspicious, 


538  CORPORATE  MONOPOLIES.  [Chap.  XV 

and  look  out  for  grievances,  any  hint  will   arouse 
their  suspicions. 

Another  evil  was  more  obvious.  The  existing 
Constitution  prevented  general  corporation  laws, 
and  no  corporation  could  exist  without  special 
charter.  In  the  early  days  of  the  State,  railroad 
and  bank  charters  were  given  to  any  one  who 
asked  them,  and  so  were  charters  for  all  pur- 
poses. These  charters  contained  no  personal 
liability  clauses,  and  were  generally  very  ill- 
guarded  against  abuse.  As  contracts,  they  had 
become  irrevocable.  A  host  of  banks  had  failed, 
and  now  there  were  not  over  about  half  a  dozen 
in  the  State,  and  their  charters  were  approaching 
an  end.  There  was  a  great  popular  fear  of  their 
multiplication,  and  some  jealousy  of  their  renewal. 
The  new  railroad  companies  had  been  given  very 
liberal  charters  when  they  bought  their  roads 
from  the  State,  and  there  were  strong  assurances 
against  competition.  As  the  necessity  for  new 
roads  arose,  there  were  difficulties  about  securing 
charters.  It  was  found  that  at  each  session  the 
Legislature  was  beset  by  an  importunate  and  ag- 
gressive lobby,  who  became  an  intolerable  nuis- 
ance, and  threw  suspicion  on  the  honesty  of 
every  thing  they  favored.  Charges  were  freely 
made  of  corruption,  and  a  decision,  either  for  or 
against  a  corporate  interest,  was  subject  to  be 
impugned.  All  these  scandals  arose  from  corpor- 
ations under  special  charters,  or  persons  desiring 
or  opposing  the  grant  of  new  charters.       A    very 


Chai\  XV.]  NEW  CONSTITUTION.     SLAVERY. 


539 


general  feeling  was  aroused  in  favor  of  changing 
this  system,  and  making  provision  for  general 
corporation  laws,  creating  no  individual  privileges. 

These  and  other  less  defined  discontents  led 
to  the  calling  of  a  new  Constitutional  convention, 
which  met  at  Lansing  in  1850,  and  prepared  the 
Constitution  under  which  we  now  live,  which  was 
adopted  by  popular  vote,  and  took  effect  on  the 
first  of  January,   1851. 

The  period  between  the  Mexican  war  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1850  was  largely 
taken  up  with  discussions  on  the  question  of 
slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  this  postponed  the 
civil  government  of  New  Mexico,  and  California 
and  the  other  acquired  lands,  until  settled  by  the 
Compromise  of  1850.  The  Michigan  Legislature 
passed  repeated  and  strong  resolutions  in  favor 
of  suppressing  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  preventing  its  existence  in  any  of 
the  acquired  territory.  In  1850,  the  admission  of 
California  as  a  free  State  was  insisted  upon,  and 
the  question  of  passing  measures  of  harmony 
was  entrusted  to  the  discretion  of  the  Senators 
and  Representatives  in  Congress.  This  resolution 
and  one  in  favor  of  the  free  navigation  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  closed  the  work  of  the  last  Legis- 
lature under  the  old  Constitution. 


CHAPTER     XVI. 

MICHIGAN    UNDER    THE    CONSTITUTION    OF    185O. 

The  Convention  which  met  in  1850  agreed 
upon  a  constitution,  some  parts  of  which  were  re- 
enactments,  although  in  different  language,  of  what 
had  already  been  in  force.  Some  very  important 
changes,  however,  were  introduced,  and  some  re- 
markable restrictions. 

The  judicial  system  was  changed  by  making, 
for  the  present,  eight  circuit  judges,  (whose 
number  might  be  enlarged)  with  supreme  court 
powers,  instead  of  supreme  court  judges  with 
circuit  powers.  The  judges  were  to  hold  office 
for  six  years,  and  the  courts  were  to  have  law 
and  equity  powers.  County  courts  were  abolished, 
and  the  jurisdiction  of  justices  of  the  peace  was 
raised  to  three  hundred  dollars,  with  power  to 
increase  it  to  five  hundred  dollars  —  subject  to 
such  exceptions  as  should  be  provided  by  law. 
After  six  years,  a  separate  supreme  court  with 
four  judges,  was  authorized  to  be  created.  The 
Upper  Peninsula  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
district  court,  which  might  ultimately  be  changed 
to  a  circuit  court.  Grand  juries  were  not  abolished, 
but  it  became  lawful  to  dispense  writh  them.     Im- 


Chap.  XVI.J  CONSTITUTIONAL  PROVISIONS.  541 

prisonment  for  debt,  except  in  cases  of  fraud  and 
fiduciary  or  official  misconduct,  was  forbidden. 

The  sessions  of  the  Legislature  were  to  be 
held  once  in  two  years,  instead  of  annually,  and 
both  senators  and  representatives  to  be  chosen  for 
one  legislative  term.  Representatives  were  to  be 
elected  from  single  districts,  except  that  in  cities 
and  townships  entitled  to  more  than  one  member, 
all  were  to  be  chosen  by  one  ticket.  Special 
acts  of  incorporation  could  no  longer  be  passed 
except  for  municipal  purposes.  All  other  than 
municipal  corporations  were  to  be  organized  under 
general  laws.  Every  law  was  required  to  be  con- 
fined to  a  single  object,  specified  in  its  title,  and 
not  to  take  effect  within  ninety  days  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  without  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each 
house  ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  were  required  on 
the  passage  of  all  statutes.  Amendments  could 
only  be  made  by  re-enacting  at  length  the  section 
as  amended.  No  private  claim  could  be  audited 
or  allowed  by  the  Legislature,  and  a  two-thirds 
vote  was  required  for  every  act  appropriating 
money  to  private  or  local  purposes.  License  laws 
for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  were  forbidden. 

All  revenue  for  ordinary  purposes  was  re- 
quired to  be  raised  by  annual  taxes,  but  specific 
taxes  on  corporations  were  to  be  applied  on  the 
State  debt,  and  after  its  extinguishment  paid  over 
to  the  primary  school  fund.  All  interest  on  the 
educational  trust  funds  was  payable  out  of  specific 


542 


CONSTITUTIONAL  PROVISIONS.  [Chap.  XVI. 


taxes.  No  debts  (except  for  war  purposes)  could 
be  incurred  beyond  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
State  could  not  aid  or  be  interested  in  either 
corporate  stock,  or  works  of  internal  improve- 
ment, except  in  expending  grants  for  the  latter 
purpose.  State  credit  could  not  be  loaned  or 
granted  in  aid  of  persons  or  corporations.  Taxes 
(not  specific)  were  to  be  levied  on  property 
assessed  at  its  cash  value. 

Agricultural  leases,  upon  rents,  were  confined 
to  twelve  years,  and  corporation  lands,  except 
where  used  for  corporation  purposes,  could  not 
be  left  unsold  beyond  ten  years.  Careful  guards 
were  placed  upon  the  subjecting  of  private  pro- 
perty to  purposes  of  public  utility. 

No  revision  of  the  statutes  was  to  be  made, 
but  compilations  of  existing  laws  were  permitted. 
This  was  done  by  Judge  Thomas  M.  Cooley,  in 
1857,  and  by    Judge    James    M.    Dewey   in    1871. 

All  State  and  judicial  officers  were  made  elec- 
tive, subject  to  impeachment  for  misconduct. 
Judges  were  made  removable,  on  the  concurrent 
resolution  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses.  By  a 
subsequent  amendment,  other  State  officers  were 
removable  for  misconduct,  by  the  executive. 

The  Governor  had,  as  before,  the  qualified 
veto  power,  and  a  power  to  reprieve  and  pardon 
after  conviction,   (except  on  impeachment.) 

The  elective  franchise  was  originally  confined 
to    white    male    citizens,    and    persons    who    had 


Chap.  XVI.J  CONSTITUTIONAL   PROVISIONS.  543 

declared  their  intentions  to  become  citizens  six 
months  before  election,  and  resided  in  the  State 
two  years  and  six  months.  Civilized  native 
Indians  not  connected  with  any  tribe  could 
also  vote.  By  subsequent  amendment,  the  word 
"  white "  was  stricken  out,  but  an  amendment 
permitting  women  to  vote  was  defeated. 

The  school  funds  were  provided  for  as  before, 
except  that  the  ultimate  destination  of  specific 
taxes  and  of  the  proceeds  of  escheated  lands,  was 
to  be  added  to  the  primary  school  fund.  Free 
•  schools  were  to  be  kept  in  each  district,  at  least 
three  months  in  the  year.  Provision  was  made 
for  an  agricultural  school,  for  benevolent  institu- 
tions, for  the  Normal  School,  and  for  public  li- 
braries in  every  township,  and  all  fines  for  the 
breach  of  penal  laws  were  devoted  to  these 
libraries. 

The  University  was  put  under  an  elective  board 
of  regents,  consisting  of  eight  members,  elected  at 
the  same  time  and  in  the  same  districts  with  the 
circuit  judges,  except  that  the  vote  of  the  Upper 
Peninsula  was  attached  to  that  of  the  third  circuit. 
In  1863,  the  Board  was  made  elective  by  the  State 
at  large,  for  terms  of  eight  years,  two  members 
retiring  every  two  years.   « 

Homestead  exemptions  of  property  to  the  value 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  (not  alienable  or  subject 
to  incumbrance  except  by  joint  act  of  husband 
and  wife  if  belonging  to  married  persons,)  were 
secured ;  and  the  property  of  married  women  was 


544 


CONSTITUTIONAL  PROVISIONS.  [Chap.  XVI. 


secured  to  their  sole  use.  Aliens  bona  fide  resident 
were  given  the  same  property  rights  as  citizens. 

Salaries  of  circuit  judges,  legislators,  and  exe- 
cutive officers,  were  permanently  fixed ;  and  sev- 
eral provisions  were  adopted  to  exclude  them 
from  leaving  one  office  for  another.  Stationery 
allowances  to  the  Legislature  were  limited,  and 
public  contracts  were  confined  to  the  lowest 
bidders. 

This  Constitution  was  much  more  specific  than 
that  of  1835,  and  some  of  its  provisions,  —  espe- 
cially in  regard  to  salaries,  —  have  been  found 
troublesome.  The  guards  against  loans  beyond 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  meet  revenue  deficiencies, 
were,  on  one  occasion,  when  the  treasury  was 
depleted  by  embezzlement,  only  prevented  from 
ruinous  mischief  by  private  liberality. 

The  history  of  the  State,  since  the  new  Con- 
stitution was  adopted,  has  been  prosperous  but 
not  eventful,  and  there  have  been  few  striking 
occurrences.  .  Its  release  from  the  dangers  of  debt 
and  extravagance  in  public  works,  has  left  the 
public  business  chiefly  confined  to  the  legitimate 
oversight  of  the  general  interests.  The  expendi- 
ture of  grants  of  land  for  various  works  of  im- 
provement has  involved  some  trouble  and  difficulty, 
but  no  considerable  pecuniary  dealings.  There 
have  been  no  home  disturbances  to  break  in  upon 
the  public  tranquillity,  and  not  many  cases  of  gross 
official  misconduct  requiring  the  interposition  of 
the    criminal    laws.       Nevertheless    the    course    of 


Chap.  XVI.J  SUCCESSIVE  GOVERNORS. 


545 


affairs  contains  some  things  worth  recording  as 
important  if  not  remarkable. 

Under  the  Constitution,  Governor  Barry  con- 
tinued in  office  until  1852.  In  1851,  an  election 
was  to  be  held  for  a  Governor  to  hold  a  single 
year,  until  January,  1853,  when  the  regular  bi- 
ennial term  was  to  succeed.  Robert  McClelland 
was  elected  for  the  short  term,  and  re-elected  for 
the  next  two  years,  (1853-4,)  an<^  Andrew  Parsons 
was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor.  These  were 
succeeded  by  Kinsley  S.  Bingham  in  1855,  Moses 
Wisner  in  1859,  Austin  Blair  in  1861,  Henry  H. 
Crapo  in  1865,  Henry  P.  Baldwin  in  1869,  and 
John  J.   Bagley  in   1873. 

The  sessions  of  1 85 1  were  mostly  devoted  to 
such  legislation  as  was  necessary  to  accommodate 
matters  to  the  changed  Constitution.  Attention 
was,  however,  called  to  the  increased  necessity  for 
a  canal  round  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary's  River ;  and 
Congress  was  addressed  upon  the  subject.  Reso- 
lutions were  also  passed,  both  in  1851  and  in 
1853,  calling  upon  the  United  States  to  protect 
the  Ottawa  and  Chippewa  Indians  in  their  Mich- 
igan settlements,  and  asserting  their  quiet  character 
and  advancement  in  industry  and  civilization.  The 
swamp  lands  which  had  been  offered  upon  certain 
conditions  by  the  United  States  were  also  accepted. 
By  a  series  of  laws  since  passed,  these  lands 
have  been  brought  into  market,  made  accessible 
by  roads,  and  largely  disposed  of  to  settlers  on 
liberal  terms.  Many  if  not  a  majority  of  these 
35 


546  SAULT  CANAL.      UPPER   PENINSULA.  TChap.  XVI. 

lands  have  become  or  will  become  habitable,  and 
valuable. 

In  1852,  the  United  States  granted  750,000 
acres  of  land  to  build  a  ship  canal  at  the  Sault 
de  Ste.  Marie.  The  State  let  the  contract  to  re- 
sponsible parties,  for  the  appropriation,  and  the 
canal  was  at  once  put  in  course  of  construction, 
and  finished  in  the  spring  of  1855.  Its  effect  was 
immediate  in  reducing  mining  expenses,  and  in 
furnishing  inducements  to  open  and  settle  the 
country.  The  towns  began  at  once  to  increase, 
and  the  subsequent  growth  of  the  iron  and  copper 
regions  was  rapid.  The  work  has  since  been 
enlarged  and  improved  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States  government. 

In  1859,  reports  were  received  leading  to  the 
belief  that  an  easy  communication  could  be  had 
with  the  Pacific  by  water  ways  and  natural  roads, 
requiring  no  improvement.  It  was  stated  that  a 
gentleman  had  come  over  from  Puget's  Sound  to 
St.  Paul  in  a  wheeled  vehicle,  in  a  very  short  time, 
having  met  with  no  obstacles  whatever  to  hinder 
his  journey.  After  examining  into  the  facts,  the 
Legislature  memorialized  Congress  to  establish  a 
tri-weekly  mail  between  St.  Paul's  and  Puget 
Sound.  The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  had  not 
then  been  thought  of. 

The  Upper  Peninsula,  as  already  suggested, 
was  for  a  time  connected  with  Wayne  County, 
for  the  purpose  of  electing  regents  of  the  Univer- 
sity.     This    arrangement    was    made   because,    al- 


Chap.  XVI.] 


BEAVER   ISLANDS  547 


though  geographically  distant  from  Detroit,  the 
business  connection  was  closer  than  with  any  other 
part  of  the  State.  This  led  to  another  arrange- 
ment, made  on  the  same  grounds  of  convenience. 
In  1853,  the  Counties  of  Emmet  and  Cheboygan 
were  organized.  Under  the  new  Constitution  they 
could  not  longer  remain  connected  with  Mackinaw, 
as  that  was  in  the  Upper  Peninsula,  and  no  other 
organized  county  was  convenient.  They  were 
accordingly  attached  to  the  Third  Circuit.  But 
the  real  purpose  of  some  of  the  parties  concerned 
arose  out  of  a  remarkable  condition  of  affairs. 
The  Beaver  Islands,  in  Lake  Michigan,  were 
anciently  the  principal  seat  of  the  nation  of  the 
Beavers  or  Amikoue,  a  tribe  at  one  time  held  in 
very  high  esteem,  as  supposed  to  be  descended 
from  the  Great  Beaver.  He  was  a  mythological 
being  held  second  only  to  Michabou,  or  the  Great 
Hare,  the  most  powerful  spirit  in  the  catalogue  of 
Indian  divinities.  When  the  remnant  of  the  tribe 
retired  to  Manitoualin  Island,  in  Lake  Huron,  they 
were  succeeded  in  their  old  home  by  a  band  of 
Ottawas,  who  in  Charlevoix's  time  had  become 
good  farmers,  and  emulated  the  Hurons  in  agri- 
cultural labors.  During  the  Pontiac  war  it  was 
in  close  union  with  the  settlement  at  L'Arbre 
Croche,  and  was  then,  as  it  was  long  after,  a  place 
held  in  some  sort  of  mysterious  reverence.  By 
the  Treaty  of  March,  1836,  with  the  Ottawas  and 
Chippewas,  the  Beaver  Islands  were  specially 
reserved    for    the    Beaver    Island    Indians.      The 


548 


MIGRATORY  JURISDICTION.  Chap.  XVI. 


Senate,  in  confirming  this  reservation,  with  others, 
undertook  to  limit  it  to  five  years,  unless  permis- 
sion was  given  by  the  United  States  to  remain 
longer.  If  made  with  white  men,  this  would  be 
regarded  as  a  somewhat  singular  method  of  deal- 
ing with  treaties,  unless  subsequently  ratified. 
How  far  any  steps  were  taken  legally  under  this 
change  in  the  treaty  it  may  not  be  easy  to  deter- 
mine. But  in  1847,  a  township  was  created  called 
the  Township  of  Peaine,  including  the  Beaver 
Islands  as  a  part  of  Mackinaw  County,  and 
establishing  the  place  of  meetings  at  Beaver 
Island  Harbor,  u  at  the  store  of  A.  Cable."  The 
Constitution  of  1850  placed  all  the  islands  in  Lake 
Michigan  in  the  region  known  as  the  Upper 
Peninsula.  But  in  1853  the  County  of  Emmet 
(formerly  named  Tonedagone  from  a  chief  of 
note,)  was  organized,  and  the  Township  of  Peaine 
was  expressly  recognized  as  a  part  of  it.  The 
county  was  attached  to  the  Third  Circuit,  and  the 
judge  of  that  circuit  held  court  at  St.  James,  the 
principal  settlement  and  county  seat,  on  the  largest 
Beaver  Island.  In  1855,  Manitou  County  was 
organized,  out  of  the  various  clusters  of  islands  in 
the  northern  part  of  Lake  Michigan  ;  and  St.  James 
was  made  the  county  seat  until  another  was 
provided.  In  1871,  after  having  been  organized 
six  years,  the  county  was  attached  to  Mackinaw 
for  court  purposes,  "  until  other  provision  is  made 
by  law  for  holding  a  court  in  said  County  of 
Manitou."  In  1865,  it  was  attached  to  Leelenaw. 
It  has  since  become  independent  again. 


Chap.  XVI.J  MORMON   KINGDOM.  549 

To  understand  this  curious  handling,  it  may  be 
explained  in  part  by  the  colonization  of  the  islands. 
While  there  were  some  settlers  on  Beaver  Island, 
who,  whether  rightfully  or  wrongfully  there,  were 
carrying  on  business  peaceably,  fishing  and  trading, 
and  in  some  instances  farming,  their  quiet  was 
disturbed  by  the  arrival  of  a  considerable  body 
of  Mormons,  who  had  seceded  from  the  main 
body,  and  had  come  to  establish  a  kingdom  in  the 
old  seat  of  the  Indian  Manitou.  Their  monarch 
was  King  James  the  First  —  known  to  other 
mortals  as  James  J.  Strang.  He  established  his 
court  at  St.  James,  and  became  an  autocrat.  The 
unfortunate  Gentiles,  who  had  no  legal  title  to  their 
lands,  but  who  were  probably  expecting  to  pre- 
empt them,  were  crowded  off  the  island,  and  treated 
as  roughly  as  it  was  safe  to  treat  them,  being 
robbed  in  such  a  way  as  to  render  it  difficult  to 
establish  any  case  against  the  wrong-doers.  Here 
for  a  time  the  isolation  of  the  islands  rendered 
it  easy  to  carry  out  the  royal  plans,  and  the 
domain  became  in  a  certain  sense  prosperous  under 
its  politico-ecclesiastical  monarchy,  which  absorbed 
a  lion's  share  of  the  gains.  Good  stock  was  intro- 
duced,— a  newspaper  established, — and  the  press 
used  for  home  purposes.  Outsiders  were  not 
desired  or  welcome.  This  state  of  things  first 
came  into  notice  when  the  fishermen  of  Mackinaw, 
and  others  engaged  in  various  interests,  came  in 
collision  with  the  islanders ;  and  a  bitter  feud 
arose,    but    the    Mormons    held    their    own.       No 


550  MORMON  AFFAIRS.  [Chap.  XV 1. 

adequate  means  existed  for  bringing  them  to 
justice,  by  reason  of  some  doubts  touching  their 
legal  jurisdictional  position ;  and  the  local  offices 
were  all  in  the  hands  of  the  faithful,  so  that  re- 
dress was  hopeless  there.  At  last  a  case  was  got 
up  against  them  for  an  alleged  interference  with 
the  United  States  mail ;  and  the  armed  steamer 
Michigan  was  sent  up  from  Detroit,  with  officers  to 
arrest  Strang  and  some  of  his  chief  followers. 
The  complaint,  however,  was  not  legally  well- 
founded  ;  and  although  the  proceedings  disclosed 
much  that  was  not  creditable,  and  many  of  the 
island  people  were  shown  up  in  an  unpleasant 
light,  it  did  not  appear  that  they  had  violated  the 
laws  of  the  United  States.  Strang,  as  might  have 
been  expected  from  his  influence  over  the  people, 
turned  out  to  be  an  intelligent  and  well  educated 
man,  of  pleasing  address,  and  free  from  any 
offensive  ways  among  strangers ;  and  he  became 
personally  popular  with  those  who  met  him.  He 
improved  his  time  by  becoming  well  informed  on 
his  legal  condition  and  prospects,  and  appeared  at 
the  next  Legislature  as  member  from  Emmet. 
He  then  procured  the  legislation  which  completed 
its  organization,  and  detached  it  from  Mackinaw, 
where  everybody  was  hostile.  His  demeanor  in 
the  Legislature  was  such  as  to  command  respect, 
and  he  was  reckoned  a  useful  member.  During 
the  interval  before  the  next  Legislature,  the  feel- 
ings of  the  neighboring  fishermen  became  very 
bitter,  and    the    general  course  of  things    did    not 


Chap.  XVI. J  SPOILING  THE  SPOILERS.  551 

change.  But  at  last  Strang  was  murdered,  while 
entering  the  steam  ship  Michigan,  which  was  lying 
at  the  wharf  on  the  island.  After  his  death,  the 
people  of  the  mainland  revenged  themselves  on 
his  followers  by  an  organized  raid,  in  which  nearly 
everything  removable  was  carried  off  as  booty, 
and  confiscated,  or  in  the  phrase  of  the  captors, 
(borrowed  from  some  former  unpleasant  island 
experiences  of  their  own  when  they  were  victi- 
mised) "  consecrated!'  The  island  was  now  in  the 
Upper  Peninsula  District,  and  in  the  absence  of 
any  organized  county  government  it  was  difficult 
to  dispense  justice  there.  Attempts  were  made  at 
Mackinaw  to  bring  the  spoilers  to  a  reckoning, 
but  the  prosecutions  all  failed  for  lack  of  evidence, 
and  might  also,  perhaps,  have  been  affected  by 
public  prejudice.  As  lawlessness  had  only  pre- 
vailed against  what  was  believed  to  have  been 
quite  as  bad  or  worse  lawlessness,  the  result  was 
not  as  shocking  to  the  popular  sense  of  justice  as 
it  would  have  been  under  other  circumstances. 
The  plunder  included  some  valuable  and  expensive 
property, — among  other  things  several  handsome 
boats,  and  the  largest  and  finest  mules  that  were 
ever  seen  in  the  State.  The  subsequent  legal 
condition  of  the  islands,  harried  and  abandoned, 
is  easily  accounted  for,  and  their  practical  outlawry 
was  not  singular. 

The  whole  upper  country  was  for  many  years 
shut  out  from  easy  access,  from  seven  to  eight 
months    in    the    twelve.      The    law    required   two 


552 


LAW  IN  THE  NORTH.  tCHAr.  XVI. 


terms  of  court  to  be  held  in  each  year,  in  every 
county,  and  of  course  these  came  quite  near 
together  ;  while,  between  the  latest  fall  and  earli- 
est spring  or  summer  term,  there*  was  a  very 
long  interval.  They  were  fortunate  in  obtaining, 
in  the  Honorable  Daniel  Goodwin,  a  judge  of 
great  legal  knowledge  and  experience,  who  did 
business  promptly,  and  was  seldom  appealed 
from.  Neither  judge  nor  bar  resided  in  the 
Upper  Peninsula ;  and  from  November  till  May 
or  June,  legal  proceedings  were  often  left  in  very 
inexperienced  hands.  In  a  scattered  population, 
containing  very  few  legally  qualified  as  jurors,  it 
was  sometimes  troublesome  to  fill  a  panel  of 
either  grand  or  petit  jurors  who  were  both  com- 
petent and  disinterested.  No  county  buildings 
were  furnished  in  some  of  the  counties,  and  in 
some  the  prison  was  unfit  for  winter  habitation, 
if  they  had  one  at  all.  Accordingly  it  was  inevi- 
table that  many  irregularities  should  exist,  and 
that  the  people  winked  at  things  which  they  could 
not  improve.  In  one  county  a  serious  riot 
occurred  in  midwinter,  where  the  case  went 
beyond  the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  ; 
and  a  worthy  gentleman  who  was  circuit  court 
commissioner  assumed  the  duty  recommended  by 
the  old  saw,  est  boni  judicis  ampliare  juris  die  tionem, 
and  tried  and  sentenced  the  offenders  to  a  long 
imprisonment.  As  he  was  the  only  one  who 
could  issue  a  habeas  eorpus  in  the  absence  of 
Judge  Goodwin,  the  imprisonment  was  as  effectual 


Chai\  XVI.]  IRREGULAR  JUSTICE.      LIQUOR   LAWS.  553 

as  if  it  had  been  legal ;  and  as  it  was  deserved, 
the  sentence  was  popularly  approved.  An  action 
for  false  imprisonment  was  defeated  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  defendant  beyond  any  temporal 
jurisdiction;  but  the  damages  likely  to  be  assessed 
by  a  jury  of  citizens  for  shutting  up  the  disturb- 
ers of  the  peace  would  not  have  impoverished 
him  if  he  had  lived.  A  young  Indian  charged 
with  murder  (committed,  if  at  all  in  an  Indian 
carouse,  and  not  aggravated)  was  allowed  to  go 
.  at  large  without  bail  for  several  terms,  and  regu- 
larly appeared  promptly  for  trial  until  his  case 
was  heard.  He  was  wofully  ignorant  of  the 
customs  of  the  whites  in  similar,  circumstances. 
Speedy  and  irregular  remedies  were  not  much 
blamed  where  there  was  great  provocation ;  and 
the  dangers  of  drunkenness  among  miners,  which 
rendered  it  necessary  to  keep  liquor-sellers  away 
from  the  locations,  sometimes  led  to  their  expul- 
sion in  a  way  more  summary  than  comfortable. 
With  such  temporary  variations  from  the  regular 
process  of  law,  there  was  a  general  respect  for 
substantial  justice,  and  for  the  judgments  of  com- 
petent tribunals,  and  no  disposition  to  lawless 
wrong. 

In  1853,  a  prohibitory  liquor  law  was  passed 
which  was  made  to  depend  upon  a  popular  vote, 
and  was  therefore  regarded  as  not  legally  enacted. 
In  1855,  a  similar  act  was  adopted  by  the  Legis- 
lature, without  popular  intervention,  and  sustained. 
It  continued  in  force  until    repealed   in   1875,    and 


554 


UNIVERSITY.  [Chap.  XVI. 


replaced  by  a  series  of  taxing  and  regulating 
statutes,  which  have  been  much  more  faithfully 
enforced,  and  have  accomplished  much  good. 

The  new  board  of  regents  of  the  University 
were  required  to  appoint  a  president,  who,  in 
addition  to  his  duties  in  the  college,  was  to  be 
chairman  of  the  regents,  but  without  a  vote. 
They  selected  the  Rev.  Henry  P.  Tappan,  D.D., 
an  accomplished  scholar  and  able  man,  who 
remained  in  that  post  until  1863,  when,  after  a 
prolonged  controversy  with  the  regents,  arising 
mainly  out  of  differences  as  to  the  prerogatives 
of  his  office,  he  was  removed.  His  place  was 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Erastus  O. 
Haven,  D.D.,  who  in  turn,  upon  resigning,  was, 
(after  an  interval  during  which  Dr.  Frieze  was 
acting  president)  followed  by  the  present  able 
and  estimable  incumbent  Dr.  James  B.  Angell. 
During  Dr.  Tappan's  administration,  the  Univer- 
sity was  more  completely  organized,  several 
important  changes  were  devised  to  enlarge  and 
vary  its  courses  of  study,  and  it  made  great 
advancement.  An  observatory  was  contributed  by 
private  subscriptions,  chiefly  by  his  procurement, 
and  the  library,  museums,  and  other  accessaries, 
were  increased  and  improved.  His  plans  were 
liberal,  and  his  aims  were  very  high.  The  Uni- 
versity has  been  conducted  in  the  main  according 
to  the  views  with  which  he  had  planned  to  con- 
duct its  scholastic  courses,  and  its  success  is 
largely  due  to  his  liberal  ideas.      The    unpleasant 


Chap.  XVI.] 


LAW  SCHOOL.  555 


difficulties  which  terminated  in  a  'change  of  presi- 
dents, necessarily  led  to  much  controversy  and 
heat,  among  those  who  did  not  view  them  in  the 
same  way,  nor  understand  all  the  facts  alike. 

In  1859,  the  law  department  was  added,  which 
completed  the  original  scheme.  Its  principal  aim 
is  to  teach  the  law  in  its  various  branches  as  now 
developed  in  this  country  from  a  common-law 
origin,  historically  and  scientifically  as  well  as 
practically.  Its  success  has  been  satisfactory,  and 
its  pupils,  who  have  been  received  from  all  parts 
of  North  America,  as  well  as  occasionally  from 
foreign  parts,  have  furnished  their  fair  proportion 
of  men  of  note,  and  successful  lawyers.  The 
faculty  first  chosen  consisted  of  Thomas  M.  Cooley, 
Charles  I.  Walker  and  James  V.  Campbell,  all  of 
whom  were  then  or  since  on  the  State  bench. 
Judge  Cooley  has  become  eminent  as  a  legal 
author.  Judge  Walker  has,  in  addition  to  profes- 
sional eminence,  rendered  great  public  services  in 
various  departments  of  social  science  and  philan- 
thropic labors  and  researches,  and  has  exceptional 
familiarity  with  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 
Professors  Pond,  Kent  and  Wells  are  also  dis- 
tinguished and  scholarly  lawyers. 

The  University  fund,  in  1837,  received  a  loan 
from  the  State  by  an  advance  of  $100,000  of 
bonds,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  used  in  build- 
ing and  other  preliminary  outlays.  Interest  on 
this  had  been  deducted  annually  from  the  income 
of  the    fund.      By  a  transfer  to  the  State   of  the 


556  UNIVERSITY   FINANCES.  [Chap.  XVI. 

property  in  Detroit,  now  occupied  by  the  city 
hall,  and  by  the  sale  of  a  large  amount  of  lands 
for  interest-bearing  State  warrants  which  were 
cancelled,  this  debt  had  been  reduced,  and  probably 
more  than  paid ;  but,  either  from  misapprehension, 
or  as  was  claimed,  from  a  re-statement  of  the 
account,  this  interest,  after  the  removal  of  the 
Capital  and  the  re-organization  of  the  State  offices 
at  Lansing,  re-appeared  as  an  annual  charge,  to 
its  full  original  amount  of  six  per  cent,  on 
$100,000.  The  Legislature  of  1853,  without  at- 
tempting to  settle  the  obscure  facts,  directed  a 
remission  of  the  interest  for  two  years,  which  was 
afterwards  made  permanent.  In  1867,  a  tax  was 
authorized  in  aid  of  the  University,  of  one- 
twentieth  of  a  mill  on  the  dollar,  which  has  since 
been  continued,  under  a  limitation  that  it  shall  not 
exceed  $50,000  before  the  year  1881,  when  a  new 
equalization  of  assessments  will  be  made.  In  1871, 
Governor  Baldwin  urged  the  claims  of  the  Univer- 
sity very  strongly  upon  the  Legislature,  and  an 
appropriation  was  made  to  build  a  central  univer- 
sity hall,  which  has  since  been  completed.  Gover- 
nor Bagley  was  instrumental  in  procuring  further 
appropriations  to  complete  the  hall,  and  meet  other 
pressing  necessities. 

The  position  of  this  institution,  which  is  a 
necessary  part  of  the  system  of  public  education, 
and  which  has  been,  nevertheless,  mainly  fostered 
by  the  United  States  endowment,  will  undoubtedly 
secure    it    liberal    treatment    in     the    future,    and 


Chap.  XVI. J  HOM<KOPATHY.      WOMEN   ADMITTED. 


557 


place  it,  where  it  ought  to  be,  as  a  thoroughly 
State  institution,  necessary  to  State  prosperity, 
and  entitled  to  the  same  liberal  support  which  is 
due  to  all  public  instrumentalities  that  serve  high 
and  useful  purposes. 

There  have  been  some  subjects  of  warm  dis- 
cussion which  are  now  mostly  settled.  For 
many  years  a  desire  was  felt  by  those  who 
approve  the  homoeopathic  system  of  medicine,  and 
who  compose  a  considerable  body  of  citizens 
represented  in  the  Legislature,  to  have  provision 
made  for  instruction  in  their  tenets.  The  diffi- 
culty of  introducing  opposing  systems  into  the 
same  institution  prevented  for  several  years  a 
pleasant  solution  of  the  question.  By  establishing 
a  separate  school  at  the  University  for  teaching 
the  views  of  homoeopathy,  so  far  as  they  do  not 
harmonize  with  other  medical  teachings,  and  by 
taking  away  from  every  professor  any  danger  of 
responsibility  for  views  which  he  does  not  approve, 
all  reasonable  ground  for  trouble  seems  to  be 
removed,    and   justice    is    done    to    both    systems. 

The  education  of  women  in  the  University  was 
also  introduced  after  long  doubting.  When  the 
controversy  first  arose,  the  Michigan  University 
was  found  to  differ  from  most  of  the  colleges  in 
the  country  in  furnishing  no  rooms  or  boarding 
facilities  to  students.  These  were  all  expected  to 
procure  board  and  lodging  for  themselves,  and  re- 
sort to  the  University  only  for  the  purposes  of 
attending  recitations,  lectures,  and  public  exercises, 


558  FEMALE   EDUCATION. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


or  for  consulting  books  in  the  library.  The 
adverse  views  of  nearly  all  the  other  college  facul- 
ties did  not  take  this  into  the  account.  Most  of 
the  objections  urged  against  the  education  of 
women  and  men  in  the  same  classes  were  theore- 
tical, and  many  were  inapplicable  to  such  a  state 
of  things  as  existed  in  Ann  Arbor.  The  exper- 
iment was  one  which  could  not  have  been  long 
postponed  without  creating  worse  difficulty,  and 
it  was  felt  that  if  it  failed,  after  a  fair  trial,  it 
could  not  at  any  rate  do  any  serious  harm  to  try 
it.  The  branches  of  the  University  had  female 
scholars,  and  our  union  and  high  schools  had 
found  no  trouble  in  teaching  them.  The  exper- 
iment has  been  entirely  successful.  The  ladies 
who  have  entered  the  University  have  been  equal 
in  all  respects  to  their  tasks,  and  have  not  been 
kept  behind  by  either  mental  or  physical  dis- 
abilities. They  have  been  treated  with  delicate 
respect  by  their  associates,  and  have  been  entirely 
independent  of  any  unwelcome  companionship. 
The  learning  which  sat  so  gracefully  on  Lady 
Jane  Grey  and  Mrs.  Somerville,  and  did  not  pre- 
vent the  fair  Professors  of  Bologna  from  possess- 
ing any  of  the  feminine  accomplishments,  cannot 
unsex  their  successors  now,  and  is  as  wholesome 
and  harmless  discipline,  to  those  who  choose  it, 
as  any  other  pursuit  can  be.  And  if  there  are 
men  who  think  unworthily  of  women,  or  women 
who  deserve  no  admiration,  neither  of  them  are  likely 
to    fall    into    such    un worthiness    in  the  pursuit   of 


Chap.  XVI.]  JUVENILE  OFFENSES.  559 

sound  learning.  The  accomplishments  which  pro- 
duce no  refinement  are  not  those  of  the  college 
class  room. 

The  admission  of  women  to  the  study  of 
medicine  has  been  so  admirably  approved  by  its 
results,  that  all  who  are  not  prejudiced  beyond 
reason  perceive  how  much  has  been  gained  by  it. 

There  is  one  decided  advantage  among  female 
students.  None  go  into  any  of  the  departments 
of  a  university  for  the  mere  name  of  it.  There 
are  no  attractions  for  any  but  those  who  wish  to 
improve  their  faculties.  It  is  not  likely  they  will 
ever  attend  in  as  large  numbers  as  men.  But 
those  who  do  enter  will  probably — as  they  cer- 
tainly have  done  heretofore — keep  fully  even  with 
their  classes. 

In  1855,  the  first  steps  were  taken  towards 
establishing  a  separate  place  of  detention  for 
young  offenders.  It  has  gone  through  different 
experiences,  and  has  not  been  uniformly  managed. 
In  many  cases,  courts  and  magistrates  have 
apparently  lost  sight  of  the  rules  of  law  which 
prohibit  the  punishment  of  children  as  criminals 
until  they  have  reached  years  of  discretion,  and 
have  allowed  them  to  be  convicted  of  crime  when 
it  was  wickedly  absurd  to  hold  them  to  any  such 
responsibility,  and  was  in  plain  violation  of  ele- 
mentary rules  of  law.  The  gentlemen  who  have 
had  the  duty  of  managing  the  institution  have 
been  usually  humane  men,  and  have  devoted 
time    and    patience    to    bringing    good    from    the 


560  YOUNG  OFFENDERS.  [Chap.  XVI 

system.  As  at  present  conducted,  it  is  likely  to 
lead  to  important  results.  Such  establishments 
are  curses  instead  of  blessings,  when  they  fall 
into  any  but  benevolent  and  patient  hands ;  and 
when  they  are  made  to  follow  the  analogies  of 
prisons,  they  present  the  shocking  and  cruel 
anomaly  of  punishing  those  who,  if  responsible  at 
all,  are  only  lightly  responsible,  more  severely 
and  for  longer  periods  than  old  offenders.  And 
what  is  still  worse,  they  put  trifling  misdemeanors 
on  the  same  footing  with  deliberate  murder. 
Whatever  benefits  have  been  derived  from  this 
system  have  been  due  to  the  personal  interven- 
tion of  its  managers  and  of  the  State  executive. 
Its  legal  position,  without  this,  leaves  room 
enough  for  gross  abuses.  When  first  organized 
it  simply  provided  a  separate  place  of  confine- 
ment for  persons  sentenced,  when  under  fifteen 
years  of  age, — leaving  the  duration  of  each  sen- 
tence to  be  governed  by  the  general  laws.  Now 
the  punishment  for  all  juvenile  offenders  under  16 
is  by  seclusion  until  they  reach  their  majority, 
unless  discharged  by  the  Board;  so  that  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  things,  unless  interfered  with, 
the  youngest  children  undergo  the  longest  term 
of  punishment.  Until  this  becomes  legally  and 
entirely — what  it  has  been  made  partially  in  good 
hands — an  asylum  and  not  a  prison,  its  position 
cannot  but  be  regarded    as    dangerously    peculiar. 

A    most    valuable    and    humane    scheme    was 
adopted    in    1871,    under    the    recommendation    of 


Chap.  XVI.]  CHARITIES.  561 

Governor  Baldwin,  whereby  much  wiser  provision 
is  made  for  the  prevention  of  juvenile  depravity. 
A  law  was  then  passed  to  .establish  a  State  Public 
School,  for  dependent  and  neglected  children. 
This  is  fixed  at  Coldwater ;  and  the  plan,  which 
has  been  well  devised  and  carefully  put  in  execu- 
tion under  the  personal  care  of  Governors 
Baldwin  and  Bagley,  is  apparently  judicious,  and 
well  adapted  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  neg- 
lected young  persons  who  are  thus  snatched  from 
vicious  surroundings.  The  appointment  of  State 
agencies  to  look  after  the  cases  of  children 
charged  with  crime,  and  see  that  they  are 
humanely  and  wisely  dealt  with,  has  added  great 
safeguards  against  mischief. 

A  commission  was  also  organized  in  1871  for 
the  general  supervision  of  penal,  pauper,  and 
reformatory  institutions,  including  also  the  asylums 
for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  blind  and  insane.  Hons. 
Charles  I.  Walker,  Henry  W.  Lord,  Z.  R.  Brock- 
way  and  Uzziel  Putnam  as  commissioners,  with 
the  efficient  services  of  Hon.  Charles  M.  Croszvell 
as  secretary,  and  with  the  active  aid  and  sympathy 
of  the  executive,  have  already  done  great  and 
good  service  in  their  beneficent  mission.  The 
progress  of  the  State  in  works  of  benevolence 
and  mercy,  under  the  leading  of  its  last  and  pre- 
sent Governors,  has  been  very  great,  and  creates 
a  most  honorable  part  of  her  history.  More  work 
of  this  sort  has  been  done  within  the  last  eight 
years  than  in  all  her  previous  experience.  It  was 
36 


562  GRAND  JURIES    DISCONTINUED.  [Chap.  XVI. 

contemplated  by  the  founders  of  the  State,  and 
not  neglected  ;  but  within  the  last  few  years  both 
education  and  humanity  have  received  much  more 
attention,  and  have  been  much  more  wisely  and 
earnestly  fostered  than  ever  before. 

In  1859,  an  important  change  was  made  in 
criminal  prosecutions.  Under  the  Constitution  of 
1850,  grand  juries  had  ceased  to  be  obligatory, 
but  had  not  been  abolished.  In  1857,  a  new 
criminal  court  was  created  in  Detroit,  and  prose- 
cutions were  allowed  to  be  conducted  in  it  by 
information.  This  change  was  introduced  by 
Hon.  Alexander  W.  Buel,  who  had  principal 
charge  of  drawing  up  the  charter.  At  the  session 
of  1859,  the  same  gentleman  introduced  a  bill  to 
extend  the  practice  into  all  the  circuit  courts. 
This  law  allowed  informations  to  be  filed  in  all 
cases  when  there  had  been  a  regular  preliminary 
examination,  for  felonies  as  well  as  misdemeanors. 
Thereafter  grand  juries  did  not  act  unless  specially 
ordered  and  summoned.  The  effect  of  this  change 
has  not  been  bad  in  most  cases.  Nevertheless 
grand  juries  are  seldom  called  unless  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Prosecuting  Attorney.  It  is  question- 
able whether  any  advantage  has  been  gained 
beyond  an  apparent  economy  and — in  some  cases 
— an  increase  in  expedition.  The  power  left  in 
the  hands  of  prosecuting  attorneys  is  not  adequate- 
ly checked.  A  dishonest  or  timid  attorney  has 
too  much  opportunity  to  abuse  his  powers  in  both 
directions  of  prosecuting  and  abstaining  from  pro- 


Chap.  XVJ.]  REPUBLICAN    PARTY. 


563 


secution.  There  is  a  strong  temptation  to  corrup- 
tion. While  the  system  of  informing  has  been  not 
unwisely  extended,  there  is  no  question  but  that 
grand  juries,  properly  organized,  prevent  much 
vexatious  litigation,* and  cause  to  be  pursued  some 
classes  of  offenders  who  escape  by  the  non-action 
of  some  prosecuting  attorneys.  Criminal  justice 
ought  to  be  beyond  the  control  of  any  single 
official.  Instances  are  not  unknown  of  prosecuting 
attorneys  who  have  not  done  credit  to  their  offices. 
If  grand  juries  were  called  oftener,  justice  would 
not  suffer  from  it. 

During  most  of  the  existence  of  the  State,  the 
entire  political  control  had  been  held,  with  respect- 
able majorities,  by  one  or  the  other  of  the  great 
parties — the  Whigs  or  Democrats.  The  majority 
of  the  people  had  usually  been  decidedly  opposed 
to  allowing  the  encroachments  of  slavery  beyond 
its  legal  limits,  but  as  decidedly  opposed  to  inter- 
fering with  its  vested  rights.  The  Compromise  of 
1850  was  acquiesced  in,  although  not  in  all  respects 
approved.  In  May,  1854,  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise was  repealed,  and  this  action  aroused 
great  feeling.  Soon  after,  in  the  summer  of  1854, 
a  convention  was  called  at  Jackson,  of  delegates 
from  the  Whig  and  Free  Soil  parties,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party. 
In  the  election  that  year,  Kinsley  S.  Bingham  was 
elected  Governor,  and  held  the  office  two  succes- 
sive terms,  being  succeeded  by  Moses  Wisner. 
In    1859,    Governor    Bingham  was  elected    United 


564  SLAVERY   QUESTION.  [Chap.  XVI. 

States  Senator,  to  succeed  Charles  E.  Stuart. 
Zachariah  Chandler,  who  had  been  Whig  can- 
didate for  Governor  in  1852,  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  succeed  General 
Cass,  in  1857.  General  Cass 'was  about  the  same 
time  made  Secretary  of  State  under  President 
Buchanan. 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Acts  was 
followed  by  a  series  of  legislative  resolutions, 
strongly  censuring  those  who  had  voted  for  them, 
and  insisting  on  the  exclusion  of  slavery  wher- 
ever within  the  control  of  the  United  States.  At 
every  session  the  questions  were  discussed,  and 
the  expression  of  opinion  was  uniform  and  decided. 

The  feeling  was  increasing  that  trouble  might 
arise  from  the  slavery  question,  as  the  friends  of 
that  institution  became  aggressive.  In  1859,  steps 
were  taken  to  make  the  State  military  system 
more  effective,  by  organizing  camps  of  instruction, 
and  increasing  the  number  of  uniformed  com- 
panies. Various  gentlemen  of  military  experience 
devoted  time  to  making  addresses  and  visiting 
the  principal  towns,  to  arouse  a  military  spirit. 
Among  those  particularly  energetic  in  this  work  was 
General  Orlando  B.  Willcox,  who,  while  discreetly 
avoiding  all  reference  to  the  peculiar  danger 
which  he  had  recognized  from  his  army  experience, 
was  quite  successful  in  awakening  popular  feeling 
in  favor  of  better  preparation  for  such  emergen- 
cies as  might  arise.  In  i860,  when  the  signs  of 
mischief  were  plainer,  and  the  public    feeling    was 


Chap.  XVI. J  DEFAULTING  TREASURER       WAR.  565 

strongly  aroused,  Governor  Austin  Blair,  who  was 
on  the  same  ticket  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  obtained  a 
majority  of  more  than  20,500  over  Governor 
Barry,  who  was  his  only  opponent. 

The  Legislature  of  1861,  which  was  very 
strongly  Republican,  met  under  unfavorable  cir- 
cumstances for  State  prosperity.  John  McKinney, 
the  outgoing  State  Treasurer,  was  found  to  have 
embezzled  the  public  funds,  and  left  the  treasury 
empty,  and  liable  for  large  outstanding  and  press- 
ing debts.  John  Owen,  the  incoming  Treasurer, 
at  once  made  arrangements,  by  the  use  of  his 
personal  credit,  whereby  he  kept  the  treasury  in 
funds  until  provided  from  ordinary  sources  in  due 
course  of  business,  after  a  delay  of  some  months. 
The  Constitutional  restraints  on  borrowing  left 
no  means  of  raising  funds  on  bonds.  This 
patriotic  course  saved  the  State  credit,  and  enabled 
the  State  soon  after,  when  a  war-loan  was  needed, 
to  borrow  upon  fair   terms. 

The  Legislature  of  1861  was  occupied,  during 
a  large  part  of  the  regular  session,  with  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  affairs  of  the  Union  ;  and  on  the 
2d  of  February  passed  resolutions  asserting  the 
supremacy  of  the  Union,  and  its  right  and  duty 
to  resist  treason,  and  pledging  the  resources  of 
the  State  in  the  public  service.  As  soon  as  the 
Southern  secession  ordinances  were  passed,  the 
Legislature  directed  the  immediate  raising  of  two 
regiments  for  service. 


566  MICHIGAN   IN  THE  REBELLION.  [Chap.  XVI. 

Shortly    thereafter    the    war    opened    by     the 
attack    on    Fort    Sumter,    and    Governor    Blair    at 
once  raised    a  loan    from  private    subscribers    and 
began  to  organize    volunteers, — the    first  regiment 
called    for    by    the     general     government     being 
speedily  equipped  under  the  command  of  General 
Willcox.     An  extra  session  was  called,  which  met 
in  the  beginning  of   May,  and    passed    the    neces- 
sary   laws    for    raising    money    and    troops.       But 
before  its  meeting  four  regiments  of  infantry  and 
a  battery  of  flying   artillery    had   gone  into    camp, 
and  the  First  Regiment    left  for    the    seat  of   war 
on  the   13th  of  May,    fully    armed    and    equipped, 
and     was    engaged    in    the    unfortunate    battle    of 
Bull    Run,    where    its    colonel    was    wounded    and 
captured,  and  afterwards  detained  in  the  Richmond 
prison  as    a    hostage.       From    that    time    on,    the 
State    kept    organizing    and    preparing    troops    in 
advance  of  the  calls  from    the  United  States,    and 
was  well  sustained    in    its    efforts.       The    military 
history  of  the  State    is    honorable,  and    has    been 
thoroughly    and    carefully    prepared.       It    is    only 
necessary  here  to  say  that  its  troops  in    the    field 
numbered  90,747,  of  whom    67,486    were   born    in 
the    United    States;    8,887     m    Canada;    8,453    in 
Great   Britain;    4,872    in    Germany,    and    1,268    in 
other  foreign  dominions  ;  and  that  of  these   13,405 
died  in  service.       It   would  be  invidious  to    single 
out  names  where  all  were  honorable.     The    State 
furnished  her  full  share    of    men    in    high  as    well 
as  lesser  commands,  and  her  soldiers  of  all  grades 


Chap.  XVI. j  SEIZURE  OF  THE   PHILO   PARSONS.  567 

won    a    well    deserved    respect    and    renown    for 
bravery    and    other    good    and    soldierly    qualities. 

Our  own  borders  were  somewhat  annoyed  by 
the  gathering  of  Southern  refugees  and  agents  on 
the  Canada  side  of  the  Detroit  River.  Reports, 
more  or  less  founded  in  probability,  were  received 
from  time  to  time  of  projected  mischief.  On  the 
19th  of  September,  1864,  the  steamboat  Philo 
Parsons  left  Detroit  for  Sandusky,  taking  on  board 
at  Sandwich  and  Amherstburg  several  persons 
with  what  was  supposed  to  be  baggage,  but 
was  really  a  supply  of  weapons.  This  expedition 
was  intended  to  cooperate  with  another  force 
designed  to  capture  the  armed  steamer  Michigan 
at  Sandusky,  to  release  the  rebel  prisoners  at 
Camp  Johnson  near  Sandusky,  and  then  to  com- 
mit depredations  on  the  lake  cities.  The  designs 
on  the  Michigan  having  failed,  the  Parsons  was 
brought  back  to  the  Detroit  River,  and  left  at 
Sandwich  in  a  sinking  condition  from  various 
injuries.  The  mischief  was  arrested  by  timely 
action,  and  the  vessel  refitted.  During  the  raid 
some  other  captures  were  made  of  United  States 
soldiers  and  of  the  steamer  Island  Queen.  On 
the  failure  of  the  plot  at  Sandusky,  the  persons 
on  board  the  boats  were  safely  landed,  and  no 
lives  were  taken.  This  was  the  only  scheme 
which  produced  any  actual  damage,  unless  a  few 
incendiary  fires  were  set  by  some  of  the  same 
parties,  which  is  not  absolutely  known. 


568 


GOVERNORS   BLAIR  AND   CRAPO.  [Chap.  XVI. 


From  the  opening  of  the  war  until  the  close 
of  the  year  1864,  Austin  Blair  was  Governor  of 
Michigan,  and  performed  his  public  duties  with 
zeal  and  devotion,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  his 
private  interests.  During  all  that  period  his  whole 
time  was  necessarily  given  up  to  the  interests  of 
the  country,  and  almost  entirely  at  his  own  ex- 
pense. The  salary  of  $1,000 — a  miserable  pittance 
at  any  time — was  made  by  war-prices,  and  the 
depreciation  of  currency,  but  a  mere  fraction  of 
its  ordinary  value.  The  policy  which  prevents 
men  of  modest  means  from  filling  the  offices 
of  State  is  not  only  poor  economy,  but  con- 
trary to  the  cardinal  principles  of  representative 
government. 

His  successor,  Governor  Crapo,  was  also  a 
very  conscientious  and  valuable  public  servant, 
and  his  careful  supervision  saved  the  State  from 
mismanagement  in  some  of  the  multitudinous  con- 
tracts which  require  almost  the  eyes  of  Argus  to 
watch  them.  His  great  business  experience  and 
strict  economy  and  integrity  induced  him  to  give 
a  degree  of  personal  supervision  to  the  details  of 
road-building  and  other  outlays,  which  was  more 
than  any  one  man  could  devote  to  such  work 
without  injury  to  himself.  His  untimely  death  was 
owing  to  neglect  of  his  health  in  attending  to  the 
details  of  public  affairs.  He  no  doubt  carried 
this  attention  to  details  to  excess, — as  other  persons 
could  and  should  have  borne  a  share  of  the 
burdens.     It  is  not  the  duty  of  the  chief  executive 


Chai\  XVI.] 


SUPREME  COURT.  569 


to  perform  every  variety  of  public  service,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  do  it.  But  that  sort  of  devotion  is 
not  so  much  to  be  deprecated,  as  it  is  to  be 
praised,  unless  it  prevents  due  attention  to  more 
peculiarly  personal  obligations,  which  it  never  did 
in  Governor  Crapo's  case.  Both  he  and  Governor 
Blair  were  well  seconded  in  most  of  the  State 
business  by  competent  heads  of  departments,  and 
other  assistants. 

In  the  year  1857,  m  pursuance  of  the  Con- 
stitution, a  separate  Supreme  Court  was  provided 
for,  to  be  organized  on  the  first  of  January,  1858. 
Its  four  terms  were  originally  divided  between 
Detroit  and  Lansing,  but  are  now  held  entirely 
at  Lansing.  George  Martin  was  the  first  chief 
justice,  and  Randolph  Manning,  Isaac  P.  Christi- 
ancy  and  James  V.  Campbell  associate  justices. 
Judge  Martin  was  chief  justice  until  his  death,  in 
December,  1867.  After  that  time  the  office  was 
made  to  fall  upon  the  justice  whose  term  was 
next  to  expire,  so  as  to  change  every  two  years. 
Judge  Manning  died  on  the  31st  of  August,  1864, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  M,  Cooley,  who, 
by  repeated  re-election  is  still  on  the  bench. 
Benjamin  F.  Graves  was  elected  in  the  place  of 
Judge  Martin,  and  is  still  in  office  by  re-election. 
Judge  Christiancy  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  in  January,  1875,  and  Isaac  Marston  was 
chosen  as  his  successor.  Judge  Campbell  is  yet 
a  member  of  the  court. 

This    relieved    the   circuit   judges    of   appellate 
duties.     The  circuits  have  been  divided  repeatedly 


570 


BINGHAM.     HOWARD.     FERRY.  [Chap.  XVI. 


and  increased  in  number  to  twenty-one.  The 
Upper  Peninsula  has  been  brought  within  the 
circuit  system.  In  1859,  provision  was  made 
there  for  county  prosecuting  attorneys,  and  the 
office  of  district  attorney  abolished.  By  some  cu- 
rious manoeuvre,  the  act  whose  title  was  "  An 
Act  to  abolish  the  office  of  District  Attorney  for 
the  Upper  Peninsula,  and  provide  for  the  election 
of  Prosecuting  x^ttorneys  of  the  several  counties 
therein,"  while  by  the  two  earliest  sections  it 
made  provision  for  the  prosecuting  attornies,  con- 
tained a  third  section  declaring  that  the  office  of 
district  attorney  should  not  be  abolished.  As 
under  the  Constitution  no  part  of  an  act  can  be 
repugnant  to  its  title,  this  created  a  muddle, 
which  seems  to  have  been  supposed  to  need 
further  legislation.  It  1864,  another  law  was 
passed    abolishing    the    office    without    ambiguity. 

Governor  Bingham  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate  in  1859,  and  died  in  office  in  1861. 
In  1862,  his  place  was  filled  by  Jacob  M.  Howard, 
who  was  succeeded,  in  1871,  by  Thomas  W. 
Ferry,  the  present  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate. 
Mr.  Howard  was  a  man  of  great  force  and  intel- 
lectual resources,  and  was  second  to  none  of  his 
Senatorial  associates  in  the  qualities  desirable  for 
his  position.  To  vigorous  and  manly  eloquence 
he  united  habits  of  laborious  and  profound 
research,  and  tenacity  of  purpose.  His  ability 
in  the  arraying  of  facts  and  discussion  of  evidence 
has  seldom  been  equalled,  and  his  great  powers 
of  reasoning  were  made  more  effective  by  a  style 


Chap.  XVI. J  SENATOR  CHANDLER.     GOVERNOR  CRAPO.  571 

which  was  weighty  without  losing  its  vivacity,  and 
polished  and  enriched  with  learning,  while  entirely 
free  from  meretricious  ornament.  His  death  was 
a  loss  to  the  whole  country.  His  colleague  Mr. 
Chandler,  the  present  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
obtained  credit  for  his  Senatorial  services,  espe- 
cially   during    the  war,  and    was    twice    re-elected. 

The  principal  political  occurrences  during  Gov- 
ernor Crapo's  time  were  the  attempted  revision 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  contest  which  he 
carried  on  against  the  dangerous  and  unconstitu- 
tional attempts  of  the  Legislature  to  authorize 
railroads  to  be  subsidized  by  county  and  other 
municipal  aid  and  taxation.  The  early  experience 
of  the  State  had  induced  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  1850  to  peremptorily  confine  the  bus- 
iness of  building  works  of  internal  improvement 
to  private  enterprise;  but  for  a  time  there 
appeared  to  be  a  notion  that  railroads  could  not 
be  too  dearly  purchased,  whether  capable  or  not 
of  any  remunerative  use,  and  contractors  and 
builders,  who  were  the  only  persons  really  bene- 
fitted in  many  cases,  endeavored  to  saddle  their 
schemes  on  the  public  treasuries.  The  plan  was 
not  only  illegal,  but  as  dangerous  as  most  illegal 
schemes  always  turn  out.  The  collapse  of  a 
majority  of  the  secondary  railroads  has  shown  on 
a  small  scale  the  utter  ruin  that  would  have  be- 
fallen the  people  if  these  attempts  had  gone  as 
far  as  it  was  desired  to  drive  them.  These 
schemes    were    pushed    through    the    Legislature 


572 


CONSTITUTIONAL  REVISION.  [Chap.  XVI. 


against  the  opposition  of  the  governors,  who 
were  called  on  to  consider  them,  and  the  execu- 
tive objections  were  sustained  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  held  the  lawrs  void.  Every  constitu- 
tional amendment  which  has  sought  to  validate 
them  has  been   rejected. 

A  Constitutional  Convention  was  held  in  May 
1867,  and  its  labors  lasted  through  the  summer. 
It  was  composed  of  able  men  of  both  parties,  and 
its  work  was  done  carefully.  The  proposed  con- 
stitution contained  several  new  provisions,  upon 
which  there  had  been  no  popular  agreement.  It 
was  defeated  by  an  enormous  majority,  composed 
in  great  measure  of  the  aggregate  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  single  parts  of  the  instrument,  which  were 
not  all  obnoxious  to  the  same  objectors.  The 
same  fate  has  befallen  every  attempt  to  submit 
amendments  together  and  not  separately.  It  is 
entirely  manifest  that  the  faults  of  the  present 
Constitution  are  found  in  some  of  its  details  and 
specific  provisions,  and  not  in  its  general  plan. 
Single  amendments  have  passed  and  will  probably 
pass  hereafter  on  their  own  merits.  But  every 
one  can  now  see  that  the  people  are  not  disposed 
to  allow  a  good  amendment  to  carry  through  one 
which  they  disapprove.  Logrolling  and  swapping 
measures  are  more  easily  carried  through  select 
bodies,   than   through  a  popular  election. 

The  last  attempt  at  revision  was  at  the  extra 
session  of  1874.  A  commission  selected  by  the 
Governor    had    sat    during    the    previous    year    to 


Chap.  XVI. J  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE  GRANTS.  573 

devise  amendments.  They  prepared  a  series  of 
articles  which  amounted  in  effect  to  a  revised  con- 
stitution. The  members  were  well  chosen,  with- 
out distinction  of  party,  and  many,  if  not  most  of 
their  suggestions,  were  generally  approved.  Others 
were  not  as  well  received.  Their  work  was 
adopted  with  some  changes,  by  the  Legislature, 
and  submitted  to  the  people  as  a  whole,  except 
as  to  a  small  portion  voted  on  separately.  This 
was  also  decisively  rejected.  In  addition  to  other 
objections,  which  were  probably  the  fatal  ones, 
there  was  a  feeling  among  many  that  the  Legis- 
lative function  of  proposing  amendments  did  not 
extend  to  framing  a  revision  of  the  whole  con- 
stitution, or  of  considerable  parts  of  it,  and  that  a 
constitutional  convention  should  be  representative 
and  not  appointed.  Among  other  propositions, 
one  to  give  the  right  of  voting  to  women,  was 
presented  separately,  and  defeated  by  a  large 
majority. 

In  1863,  tne  United  States  made  large  grants 
to  the  several  States  for  agricultural  and  military 
education.  The  State  of  Michigan  accepted  the 
grant,  and  applied  it  in  aid  of  the  existing  Agri- 
cultural College.  This  was  thereby  put  on  a 
better  footing ;  and  has  become  a  useful  institu- 
tion, with  a  promise  of  more  utility  in  the  future, 
as  the  value  of  the  necessary  preliminary  experi- 
ments becomes  more  thoroughly  tested. 

In  1859,  the  business  of  making  salt  began  to 
assume  importance.     The  discovery  of  rich    wells, 


574 


SALT  AND   MINERAL  SPRINGS.      FORESTS.        [Chai\  XVI 


and  the  economy  of  connecting  the  work  with  the 
steam  saw-mills,  thus  economising  labor  and  fuel, 
led  to  the  creation  of  a  very  extensive  industry 
particularly  on  the  Saginaw  River.  In  some  of 
the  borings  the  discovery  of  mineral  springs,  valu- 
able for  curative  properties,  has  led  to  still  more 
profitable  results,  and  opened  pleasant  places  of 
resort. 

The  extension  of  roads  has  facilitated  the  busi- 
ness of  lumbering,  and  the  country  is  being  rap- 
idly despoiled  of  its  pine  and  hardwood  timber. 
The  frequent  prevalence  of  extensive  fires  has 
furnished  some  reason  for  the  voluntary  destruc- 
tion, for  lumber,  of  what  might  be  otherwise  lost. 
The  year  1871,  which  witnessed  the  burning  of 
Chicago,  was  peculiarly  fatal  to  the  northern 
woods,  and  immense  tracts  were  rendered  value- 
less, or  greatly  diminished  in  value  by  the  fires. 
The  rapid  settlement  of  the  Lower  Peninsula  has 
led  to  the  removal  of  woods  from  the  greater 
part  of  its  southerly  moiety,  and  the  effect  on 
climate  and  streams  is  very  marked,  and  prejudi- 
cial. The  moisture  which  was  once  retained  by 
the  vegetation  and  shade,  and  tempered  the  air, 
now  runs  off  rapidly,  and  without  soaking  into  the 
ground.  Streams  have  dwindled  and  disappeared, 
and  the  country  often  suffers  from  drought,  while 
it  is  believed  to  be  much  more  exposed  than 
formerly  to  extreme  cold. 

After  the  war  was  over,  and  when  the  fever 
of   speculation    began    to  abate,  the    State    settled 


Chap.  XVI.]  PROGRESS.      NEW   CAPITOL.  0  /  0 

down  again  to  quiet  ways.  Within  the  last  ten 
years  the  public  interest  has  been  more  and  more 
directed  to  things  of  permanent  importance,  and 
valuable  executive  suggestions  have  been  carried 
out  in  the  broad  and  liberal  spirit  which  prompted 
them.  Much  more  attention  has  been  paid  to 
education  and  philanthropy.  New  asylums  have 
been  planned,  the  University  and  other  schools 
have  been  aided,  prisons  have  been  improved  and 
remodelled,  and  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
highest  work  of  civilization.  The  State  has  be- 
come populous  and  wealthy,  and  able  to  carry  out 
any  proper  schemes. 

In  1 87 1,  preparation  was  made  for  building  a 
permanent  Capitol.  After  much  examination  and 
reflection  plans  were  adopted  and  contracts  let. 
The  corner  stone  was  laid  in  1873.  A  superin- 
tending board,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Shearer, 
Chapoton  and  Grosvenor,  have  had  constant  super- 
vision of  the  work,  which  will  be  finished  in  1877. 
Mr.  Myers,  the  architect,  and  Messrs.  Osburn,  the 
contractors,  have  planned  and  built  thus  far  a 
beautiful  and  satisfactory  building,  in  which  no  un- 
sound material  has  been  placed,  and  into  which 
all  the  funds  appropriated  have  honestly  entered. 
When  other  communities  have  been  so  badly 
cheated  in  such  enterprises,  it  is  certainly  worth 
recording  that  Michigan  has  been  served  with 
strict  integrity. 

The  poverty  of  the  State  for  many  years  made 
it    necessary    to  use  more  than  common  economy 


576 


STATE   LIBRARY  [Chap.  XVI. 


in  all  its  expenditures.  This  necessity  not  only 
prevented  the  earlier  building  of  a  Capitol,  but 
the  accumulation  of  an  adequate  library.  Some 
of  the  earlier  purchases  of  books  were  very 
judicious  and  valuable,  but  neither  space  nor 
means  existed  for  placing  the  library  in  proper 
condition.  Since  it  has  become  certain  that  books 
if  purchased  will  be  preserved  and  made  accessible, 
a  great  change  has  taken  place,  and  the  present 
collection  is  already  assuming  importance.  By  a 
careful  system  of  exchanges,  the  Law  Library  has 
become  very  complete  in  American  Reports,  and 
fairly  supplied  with  other  English  and  American 
publications,  and  is  constantly  improving.  The 
General  Library  is  also  advancing  rapidly.  Gover- 
nor Baldwin  while  in  office  ventured  upon  what 
was  then  the  untried  experiment,  of  appointing  a 
lady,  Mrs.  Harriet  A.  Tenney,  to  be  State  Libra- 
rian. Her  nomination  was  cheerfully  ratified,  and 
the  choice  has  been  abundantly  justified  by  the 
result.  The  neatness  and  care  with  which  the 
library  room  and  its  contents  have  been  arranged 
and  kept,  and  the  quiet  and  decorum  prevailing, 
are  in  themselves  a  great  advantage,  not  always 
found  in  State  libraries.  The  Librarian  has  shown 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  books  and  their  selec- 
tion, and  an  enthusiastic  desire  to  make  her  charge 
a  literary  treasury.  A  department  of  American 
antiquities,  and  valuable  relics  has  also  been 
planned,  and  some  collections  already  made  of 
documents,  pictures,  and  other  things  of  historical 


Chap.  XVI.]  FALSE   ECONOMY.  577 

value,  not  least  of  which  is  the  Roll  of  Honor  of 
the  Michigan  Soldiers  who  died  in  the  Rebellion. 
The  wisdom  of  choosing  a  competent  woman  to 
such  an  office  has  been  recognised  in  some  other 
libraries  in  the  State,  which  have  also  been  for- 
tunate in  securing  the  right  persons  to  act  for 
them.  No  one  doubts  that  such  places  furnish 
appropriate  and  legitimate  scope  for  feminine 
tact  and  accomplishments. 

There  is  one  matter  in  which  the  State  has 
no  cause  for  self-gratulation.  The  Constitution  of 
1850,  instead  of  leaving  official  salaries  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  Legislature,  as  changing  circum- 
stances might  require,  fixed  the  pay  of  all  the 
principal  executive  and  judicial  officers  permanent- 
ly, and  at  very  low  rates.  There  are  few  if  any 
of  these  persons  who  receive  as  large  pay  as  their 
own  subordinates,  or  who  can  afford  to  devote 
their  whole  time  to  their  official  duties.  It  is  re- 
markable that  this  state  of  things  has  not  led  to 
greater  mischiefs  than  have  befallen  the  common- 
wealth from  it.  Since  Mr.  McKinney's  time  the 
treasury  has  been  in  the  hands  of  competent  and 
wealthy  men,  whose  services  have  been  practically 
almost  gratuitous,  but  have  been  faithful  and  valu- 
able. The  Auditor  General's  office  has  been,  so 
far  as  is  known,  entirely  above  suspicion.  The 
management  of  public  lands  has  on  some  occa- 
sions been  questioned.  Frauds  have  been  com- 
mitted against  the  State  by  persons  purchasing 
lands,  and  it  has  been  imagined  that  they  were 
37 


578 


LEGFSLATIVE    DISCRETION.  [Chap.  XVI. 


not  committed  without  the  misconduct  of  some 
one  in  the  department.  The  impeachment  of  Mr. 
Edmunds,  the  Commissioner,  in  1872,  while  it  was 
not  followed  by  his  own  conviction  upon  charges 
of  crime,  indicated  that  there  had  been  a  course 
of  business  in  the  office  which  was  not  conducted 
on  proper  business  principles,  and  which  needed, 
as  it  has  received,  amendment.  The  penurious 
system  which  prevailed  prevented  that  thorough 
and  systematic  management  imperatively  required 
by  so  important  a  branch  of  the  public  service, 
and  the  property  squandered  very  much  exceeds 
the  money  saved.  In  general  the  incumbents 
have  rendered  good  service  without  adequate  pay. 
But  it  is  not  good  policy  to  make  it  difficult  for 
a  faithful  officer  to  hold  office  without  great  per- 
sonal loss.  Where  the  fixing  of  salaries  has  been 
left  to  the  Legislature,  they  have  never  been  ex- 
travagant. The  disposition  to  suspect  Legislative 
bodies  of  liability  to  sinister  influences  in  such 
matters  is  absurd.  If  corruption  is  dreaded,  and 
if  they  are  not  to  be  trusted  where  it  is  possible, 
they  may  as  well  be  abolished  at  once.  The 
general  power  of  legislation  affords  infinitely  more 
room  for  misconduct  than  that  which  relates  to  a 
few  offices.  When  the  representatives  of  the 
people  are  to  be  presumed  unfit  for  their  respon- 
sibilities, republican  government  must  cease.  It 
cannot  exist  without  honesty,  and  it  must  be  pre- 
sumed, as  it  is  true,  that  honesty  is  usually  to  be 
found.       The  wisest  constitutional   restrictions    are 


Chap.  XVI.]  PROGRESS.  579 

intended  to  prevent  haste  and  misjudgment,  and 
honestly  intended  encroachments  tempted  by  pe- 
culiar circumstances.  They  seldom,  if  ever,  are 
designed  to  indicate  a  distrust  in  personal  integrity. 
It  is  very  much  to  be  hoped  that  the  people  will 
soon  become  convinced  that  honest  work  should 
be  honestly  paid,  and  that  a  generous  confidence, 
rationally  guarded,  is  safer  as  well  as  more  cred- 
itable than  perpetual   distrust. 

This    year,  of   so    much   interest  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  finds  Michigan  furnishing    a 
hopeful  illustration  of  the  results  of  the  experiment 
made    a    hundred    years     ago.       She     was     then 
governed  by  martial  law,  with  few  people,  and  but 
one  civil  settlement.     For  twenty  years   after   the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  she  remained   under 
British  control,  and  was  intended  to    be    reserved 
as  a  refuge  for  savages  and  a  haunt  of  beasts  of 
the  chase.     A  few  years  later  she  fell  again  for  a 
short    time  under  the  same    governance,  as    much 
to    the  surprise  of   the  captors,  as  to    the    disgust 
and  rage  of  the  surrendered.       But    with    the    re- 
capture came    the    beginning  of   progress.     Multi- 
tudes   of   the  Revolutionary  patriots  and   of  their 
children    came   westward,  to  enjoy  the  inheritance 
earned    by    the    struggle   for  independence.      The 
laws    and    customs    of   the    new    land    were    fresh 
copies    of   those    of    the    older    colonies,    changed 
only  where  change  was  needed.     In  every  village 
churches  and  schools  stood  foremost  in  the  estima- 
tion   of   the    people,    and    ignorance,  idleness   and 
immorality,  were  under  the  ban. 


580 


PAST  AND  PRESENT.  [Chap.  XVI. 


The  beginning  of  our  existence  as  a  State  was 
rendered  unfortunate  by  the  mistaken  notion  that 
wealth  and  capital  could  be  made  up  out  of  con- 
fidence, instead  of  patient  industry.  The  land  was 
rich  and  lay  directly  in  the  pathway  to  the  further 
west,  where  the  unerring  instincts  of  our  wander- 
ing race  have  always  led  them  in  search  of  em- 
pire. The  future  was  sure,  but  too  uncertain  in 
date  to  be  wisely  discounted.  No  one  then 
dreamed  of  the  shortening  of  time  and  space  by 
improved  railways  and  telegraphs,  nor  was  there 
any  confidence  in  the  quick  passage  of  the  ocean 
by  steam,  whereby  it  has  become  possible  to 
crowd  and  multiply  immigration  faster  than  the 
country  can  absorb  it.  And  yet  in  a  vague  way 
the  hopes  of  the  new  settlements  kept  up  with  all 
the  possibilities. 

Many  people  are  yet  living  who  remember 
well  the  whole  course  of  the  Territory.  Very 
many  more  are  familiar  with  all  the  fortunes  of 
the  State.  The  population  which  would  not  have 
crowded  a  large  village  has  now  extended  beyond 
a  million  and  a  third.  The  improved  lands  ex- 
ceed five  and  a  half  millions  of  acres,  and  there 
are  more  than  113,000  farms  occupied  almost 
entirely  by  owners  and  not  by  tenants.  Besides 
agricultural  products,  the  products  of  industry  in- 
clude lumber,  copper  and  iron,  and  all  the  shapes 
in  which  they  may  be  wrought,  as  well  as  sugar, 
fish,  salt,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  manufactured 
articles.     The  railroads  in  the  State  exceed    3,700 


Chap.  XVI.]  CONSTITUTIONAL  FREEDOM.    '  581 

miles,  at  a  cost  of  more  than  140  millions  of 
dollars,  in  view  of  which  the  five  million  loan, 
which  was  such  an  incubus  on  the  State,  appears 
very  insignificant.  The  ordinary  school  houses  re- 
present a  value  of  $9,000,000,  and  the  annual 
school  expenditures  approach  $3,500,000.  The 
bonded  debt  of  the  State  is  less  than  $1,600,000 
— less  than  $1.20  for  each  person. 

During  the  whole  period  of  the  State  existence 
there  has  been  unbroken  peace  with  her  neigh- 
bors, and,  since  her  admission  into  the  Union,  no 
quarrel  with  any  other  State.  No  capital  sentence 
has  been  executed  during  this  time.  There  has 
been  no  general  famine,  and  no  very  fatal  epidemic. 
Political  rancor  has  not  degenerated  into  treason 
or  sedition,  and  serious  riots  have  been  rare  and 
confined  with  narrow  bounds.  Only  one  State 
officer  has  been  convicted  of  malversation  in  office, 
and    only    one  more  has  been  put  upon    his  trial. 

The  people  are  thoroughly  American  in  their 
habits  and  sympathies,  attached  to  their  State  and 
attached  to  the  Union.  They  have  gained  their 
prosperity  by  constitutional  liberty,  and  they  re- 
cognise in  the  preservation  and  enforcement  of 
constitutions  and  laws  their  best  safeguards 
against  the  dangers  that  beset  a  civilized  com- 
monwealth. 

THE     END. 


INDEX. 


Abbott,  Edward,  Commander  at  Vin- 
cermes,  173. 

Abbott,  James,  on  committee  of  tra- 
ders to  prevent  sales  of  liquor,  164; 
James,  his  son,  Judge  of  Common 
Pleas,  251. 

Abbott,  Robert,  Auditor  General,  348  ; 
State  Treasurer,  399. 

Absolute  system  of  French  government, 
5,  77,  171 ;  of  English  after  the  con- 
quest of  Canada,   132,  156. 

Acadians,  108,  117. 

Adams,  armed  vessel  captured  at  De- 
troit at  surrender,  281 ;  recaptured 
as  the  ''  Detroit,"  336. 

Aigremont,  Clerambaut  d',  reports  on 
Detroi*  61,  65,  68,  75. 

Aikins,  Captain  In  British  army,  be- 
friends American  prisoners,  349. 

Akansas,  tribe  visited  by  Joliet,  30. 

Albany  traders  at  Detroit,  116. 

Allen,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  killed  at 
Frenchtown,  338,  342. 

Allouez,  Father,  12. 

Amherst,  Sir  Jeffrey,  116,  129. 

Amikoue  or  Beaver  Indians,  at  Beaver 
Islands,  547. 

Ancrum,  Major  William,  commanding 
at  Detroit :  dealings  with  the  Mo- 
ravians, 187. 


Anderson,  Colonel  John,  Michigan  of- 
ficer, 242,  305. 

Anderson,  Lieutenant  John,  at  surren- 
der of  Detroit,  300,  309. 

Angell,  James  B  (LL.D.),  President 
of  University,  554. 

Anioton,  an  Indian  chief,  102. 

Anthon,  Dr.  George  Christian,  receives 
grant  from  Pontiac,   120,  140. 

L'Arbre  Croche,  an  Indian  settlement, 
94;  good  character  of  people,  94, 
119,  517. 

Armistice  in  War  of  18 12,  323,  325. 

Askin,  John,  befriends  the  Moravians, 
187 ;  engages  in  plan  to  secure  con- 
trol o(f  Michigan,  199;  retains  Brit- 
ish allegiance,  200. 

Askin,  John,  Junior,  at  capture  of 
Mackinaw,  283. 

Asylums,  515,  531,  574. 

Atasson  or  Ottason,  Schierflin's  name, 
201  n. 

Atiochiarontiong,  (one  of  the  forms  of 
Taochiarontiong,  or  Teuchsa  Gron- 
die),  a  Huron  name  for  the  region 
about  Detroit  and  Lake  Erie,  37,  48, 
S6. 

Atwater,  Reuben,  Territorial  Secretary, 
238 ;  warns  Hull  of  danger,  276. 

Audrain,  Peter,  a  public  officer  at  De- 
troit, 350-1. 


584 


N  D  E  X  . 


Baby,    Colonel    Francis,    of    Canada,  j 
195 ;    ransoms   American  prisoners, 

349- 
Baggattaway,  an  Indian  game  of  ball, 

used  as  a  device  to  enter  Mackinaw 

in  1763,  121;  attempted  at  Detroit, 

124. 
Bailey,  Lewis  E.,  his  horse,  448. 
Bagley,  John  J.,  Governor  of  Michi-  i 

gan,  545,  556 
Baker,  Ensign,  story  of  his  adventures   ! 

after  Battles  of  Frenchtown,  348. 
Baldwin,  Henry  P.,  Governor  of  Mich-   j 

igan,  545,  556,  561,  576. 
Ball-play  at  Shawnee  village  between   ! 

Indians  and  squaws,  210. 
Bank  of  Detroit  chartered,  but  annulled  ! 

by  Congress,  244. 
Bank  of  Michigan  chartered,  400. 
Banking  system  of  Michigan   carried   ! 

to  excess,  489-492,  513. 
Barclay,  Captain,  defeated   by    Perry, 

367- 

Barre,  Governor  de  la,  friendly  to  set- 
tlements, 41 ;  controversy  with  Don- 
gan,  42. 

Barrow,  Captain,  of  British  army,  be-   1 
friends  American  prisoners,  349. 

Barry,  John  S  ,  Governor,5i5,  531,545-   I 

Barstow,  Samuel,  512. 

Bassett,  Major  Henry,  British  Com- 
mander, 149,  150,  152. 

Bates,    Frederick,    Territorial    Judge,   i 
237 ;    Secretary    and    Governor    of 
Missouri,  239. 

Battle  of  Bloody  Run,  129;  of  Tippe-  j 
canoe,  260;    of  River  Raisin,  338, 
344;    of  Fort  Meigs,  357;    of  Fort  i 
Stephenson,  360 ;  of  Lake  Erie,  367  ; 
of  the  Thames,  371. 

Bayard,  Major  Robert,  British  Com- 
mander, establishes  courts,  141,  142. 

Beauharnois,     Charles,     Marquis    de, 
Governor  General,    grants    lands  at   j 
Detroit,  88,  89,  90.  | 


Beauvais  de  Tilly,  goes  with  Tonty  to 
Seneca  campaign,  45. 

Beavers  in  Upper  Canada  and  Michi- 
gan, 48,  58 

Beaver  Island,  Mormon  kingdom  there, 

547,  549- 
Bellestre  (or  Belletre),  Francois  Marie 
Piquote  de :  his  property  in  De- 
troit, 60,  63,  145 ;  accompanies  In- 
dian chiefs  to  Quebec,  and  returns 
with  De  la  Richardie,  101  ;  last 
French  Commander  at  Detroit,  109, 
no. 
Bellefontaine,  or  Springwells,  297. 

Belle  He,  above  Detroit,  formerly  He  a 
Ste.  Claire,  and  He  aux  Cochons, 
124;  Fisher  murdered  there  by  In- 
dians, 125;  granted  to  George  Mc- 
Dougall,  170. 

Beneworth,  James,  engraver,  489. 

Biddle,  Major  John :  contributor  to 
historical  sketches,  422 ;  delegate  to 
Congress,  398 ;  candidate  for  Senate, 
469 

Bigot,  Intendant :  his  misconduct  and 
conviction,  92. 

Big  Snake  joins  Harrison,  362. 

Bingham,  Kinsley  S.,  Governor,  515, 
545,  563;  Senator,  563-4,  570. 

Bird,  Captain  Henry,  makes  incursion 
into  Kentucky,  181. 

Black  Hawk  War,  436. 

Black  Hoof  joins  Harrison,  362. 

Blair,  Austin,  Governor,  545,  565,  568 

Blood,  Dr.,  wounded  at  Detroit,  300. 

Bloody  Run,  massacre  of,  129. 

Bluejacket,  Shawnee  chief:  his  village 
and  doings  there,  210. 

Bois-blanc  Island  of  Detroit  River,  59 ; 
headquarters  of  Hurons,  99;  mission 
removed  to  Sandwich,  lot;  dispute 
as  to  its  nationality,  228;  Tecum- 
seh's  headquarters,  369 ;  forest  re- 
moved in  Patriot  War,  5 It. 

Boishebert,  Captain,  French  Comman- 


INDEX 


585 


dant,  favors  settlement  at  Detroit, 
89,  90 ;  authorizes  mill  to  be  built, 
ib. 

Boone,  Daniel,  captive  at  Detroit,  175  ; 
attacked  by  British,  ib. 

Boundary  disputes :  on  the  lakes,  2 ; 
at  Bois-blanc,  229  ;  on  southern  bor- 
der, 209,  231,  433,  444-448,  449-463. 
470-477. 

Bounties  to  industries,  493. 

Bounty  lands  :  Michigan  reported  un- 
fit for  them,  379,  380. 

Bourgmont,  Commander  of  Detroit  in 
Cadillac's  absence,  is  attacked  by 
Indians,  67  n. 

Bradstreet,  Colonel,  visits  Detroit  and 
makes  treaty,  130,  131. 

Brady,  Fort,  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie :  Cass 
obtains  Indian  cession  for,  404 ;  in- 
terferes with  ship  canal,  502. 

Brandy  traffic  at  Mackinaw  and  De- 
troit, 64,  65,  85. 

Brant  encouraged  by  the  British  against 
the  Americans,  191,  257. 

Brevoort,  (Majpr  and  Commodore) 
Henry  B.,  366,  368. 

British  conquer  Canada  and  occupy 
Detroit,  109,  ill;  early  endeavors 
to  get  a  foothold  in  Michigan,  29,  39, 
42,  43,  51  ;  Roseboom  and  McGre- 
gory  expeditions  captured,  43  ;  Iro- 
quois cession,  56 ;  govern  Michigan 
by  martial  law,  132,  156,  162;  pass 
Quebec  Act,  153;  send  expeditions 
from  Detroit  in  Revolution,  172,  174, 


181 ;  retain  posts  in  violation  of 
treaty,  189;  excite  Indians  against 
Americans,  192 ;  give  up  the  posts 
in  1776,  197  ;  subsidize  Indians,  257, 
401,406;  take  Detroit,  302  ;  occu- 
pation and  re-surrender,  Chap.  XII. 

Brock,  General  Sir  Isaac,  takes  De- 
troit, 301 ;  is  knighted,  336  ;  killed, 
ib. 

Brown,  Dr.  Win,  350,  351,  356. 

Brown  County,  388. 

Brownstown,  battle  of,  287,  289. 

Brush,  Colonel  Elijah,  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, 219;  mystifies  the  court,  ib.; 
colonel  of  militia,  242;  commands 
regiment  during  War  of  1812,  321  ; 
aids  prisoners,  350;  banished  by 
Proctor,  356. 

Brush,  Captain  Henry,  endeavors  to 
take  supplies  to  Detroit,  287,  296; 
refuses  to  surrender,  305  ;  vindicated 
by  court  martial,  306. 

Buckongahelas,  a  Delaware  chief:  af- 
fairs at  his  village,  210. 

Buffaloes  common  in  Michigan,  113. 

Bull,  George  H.,  botanist,  488. 

Burnet,  Judge  Jacob,  210. 

Burr's  conspiracy  leads  to  special  leg- 
islation, 264. 

Burt,  William  A.,  inventor  of  the  solar 
compass,  527-8. 

Burtis,  Captain  John,  introduces  horse 
and  steam  ferries,  413,  414. 

Bushlopers  or  bushrangers,  14,  16,  52. 


Cadarachqui  or  Cadaraqui,  a  name 
of  Lake  Ontario,  52,  56. 

Cadillac,  Antoine  de  la  Motte,  Lord  of 
Bouaquat  and  Mont  Desert,  a  prom- 
inent officer,  50;  desires  to  fortify 
the  Strait,  51  ;  visits  France  and  ob- 
tains authority,  52,  53 ;  builds  Fort 
Pontchartrain,  54,  59 ;  career  at  De- 
troit, Chap.  V.;  his  character,  64; 
38 


made  Governor  of  Louisiana,  76 ; 
descendants,  80. 

Cadotte,  Monsieur,  interpreter  at  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  Ell. 

Caledonia,  British  man-of-war,  captur- 
ed at  Fort  Erie,  281,  336;  used  in 
attack  on  Mackinaw,  283 ;  one  of 
Perry's  fleet,  367. 

Callieres,  Louis  Hector  de,  Governor 


586 


INDEX 


of  New  France,  56 ;  confers  with 
Iroquois  about  Detroit,  55  ;  unjust 
to  Cadillac,  67. 

Campau,  Joseph,  occupies  place  of 
Cadillac's  house,  62. 

Campau,  Charles,  builds  water-mill,  90. 

Campbell,  Donald,  Captain  and  Major 
in  60th  Royal  Americans,  first  Brit- 
ish Commander  of  Detroit,  116; 
visits  Pontiac's  camp,  127;  murder- 
ed by  Saginaw  chief  Wasson,  128. 

Campbell,  John,  Colonel,  and  Com- 
mander at  Detroit,  took  part  in 
Croghan's  negotiations  with  Indians, 
139;  repaired  fort,  140;  levied 
taxes,   141. 

Campbell,  James  V.,  Judge,  569;  law 
professor,  555. 

Canada  or  New  Prance,  included  Mich- 
igan, 3  ;  conquered  by  Great  Britain, 
109 ;  governed  by  royal  proclama- 
tion, 132;  brought  under  Quebec 
Act,  153,  155;  divided  into  Upper 
and  Lower  Canada,  194 ;  invaded  by 
Hull,  278;  disaffection  caused  by 
proclamation,  279,  321,  322,  326; 
evacuated  by  Hull,  290 ;  invaded  by 
Harrison,  269. 

Canada  Company  control  trade  at  De- 
troit. 66. 

Cannon  captured  in  Revolution,  re- 
captured at  Detroit,  and  again  re- 
taken at  the  Thames,  336. 

Canoes :  their  size  fixed  for  trading 
purposes,  74,  401. 

Capital  punishment  inflicted  by  Judge 
Dejean,  166;  abolished,  524. 

Capital  of  Michigan  removed  to  Lan- 
sing, 533- 

Capitol  building  at  Detroit,  410;  at 
Lansing,  575. 

Carantouan,  whether  the  same  as  Kar- 
ontaen,  37. 

Carheil,  Father,  missionary  at  Mack- 
inaw, 64. 

Carignan  Regiment,  27. 


Carleton,  Sir  Guy,  (Lord  Dorchester), 
157;  establishes  courts,  159;  makes 
appointments  at  Detroit,  161  ;  gives 
land  to  tory  refugees,  194;  encour- 
ages Indians,  191,  194. 

Carts,  fashionable  vehicles  in  Detroit, 
421. 

Cass,  Lewis,  (Colonel  and  General)  : 
meeting  with  Judge  Sibley,  218;  el- 
ected colonel  of  volunteers,  274; 
defeats  British  at  Canard  River,  but 
is  prevented  by  Hull  from  moving 
on  Maiden,  279 ;  sent  away  with  Mc- 
Arthur  before  surrender  of  Detroit, 
297 ;  reports  facts  at  Washington, 
329;  promoted,  330;  in  Harrison's 
army,  371  ;  his  brigade  left  at  Sand- 
wich, ib.\  volunteer  aid  in  Battle  of 
the  Thames,  372 ;  Governor  of 
Michigan,  376 ;  his  administration, 
Chap.  XIII.;  advanced  political 
views,  392,  413  ;  expedition  to  sour- 
ces of  the  Mississippi,  400  ;  gallant 
conduct  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  403  ; 
expedition  with  Colonel  McKenney, 
414 ;  made  Secretary  of  War,  419  ; 
literary  and  social  surroundings,  420; 
Senator,  536  ;  Secretary  of  State,  564. 

Catholepistemiad,  385. 

Cattle  at  Detroit,  61,  86. 

Cavelier,  [see  La  Salle),  Monsieur, 
brother  of  J  La  Salle,  defrauds  the 
Chevalier  de  Tonty,  46. 

Celoron,  Commander  at  Detroit,  93,  99. 

Census  of  Canada.  69;  of  Michigan, 
234,  442. 

Chabert  de  Joncaire,  the  Chevalier 
Frangois,  influential  with  the  Sene- 
cas,  1 14 ;  suspected  by  British,  147  ; 
delegate  from  Wayne  County  in  As- 
sembly of  Northwest  Territory,  114, 
219. 

Chacornacle,  a  lieutenant  of  Cadillac, 

54. 
Chambers,  Major,   sent   by    Brock   to 
raise  forces  to  relieve  Maiden,  and 
fails  to  obtain  them,  279,  287,  322. 


INDEX 


587 


Champlain,  said  to  have  known  the 
Strait,   io. 

Chancery,  Court  of,  480;  abolished, 
480,  522. 

Chandler,  Zachariah,  Senator,  564,  571. 

Chaplain,  duties  of,  devolved  on  mili- 
itary  officers,  179,  204. 

Chapoton,  a  French  citizen,  communi- 
cates with  Pontiac,  127. 

Charlevoix,  Father,  the  historian,  4 ; 
visits  Detroit,  86. 

Chaudiere,  a  name  of  Lake  Ste.  Claire, 

38- 
Chegoimegon,  mission  at,  12. 

Chemin  du  Ronde,  the  road  next  to  the 
pickets  at  Detroit,  60. 

Chene,  Captain  Isidore,  of  Detroit,  at- 
tempts to  capture  Daniel  Boone,  175. 

Chicago  massacre,  293,  295,  305. 

Chiery,  a  monopolist  at  Detroit,  88. 

Chillicothe,  made  capital  of  Northwest 
Territory,  222  ;  discontent  and  riots, 
223. 

China,  supposed  to  be  accessible,  21. 

Chipman,  Henry,  Territorial  Judge, 
4io,  435- 

Chippewa  (or  Ojibway)  Indians,  fiercer 
than  Ottawas,  119;  destroy  the 
Mackinaw  garrison,  121 ;  allow  Mo- 
ravians to  settle  at  Clinton  River, 
184. 

Cholera  at  Detroit,  437-8,  441. 

Christiancy,  Isaac  P.,  Judge,  569 ; 
Senator,  ib. 

Churches  organized,  396-7 ;  Saint 
Anne's,  81,  255,  398,  387. 

Cincinnati,  capital  of  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory, 222. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  captures  Vin- 
cennes  and  Kaskaskia,  174,  176; 
sends  Governor  Hamilton  and  others 
prisoners  to  Virginia,  1 76. 

Clay,  General   Green,   at  Fort  Meigs, 

359- 
Clinton  River,    formerly    Huron,    184, 
412. 


Colbert,  offers  rewards  for   discovery, 

29  ;  checks  clerical  powers,  ib. 
Colden,    Cadwallader,    plans    against 

Detroit,  108. 
Colonial    absolutism,    5  ;      contrasted 

with  common-law  system,  106,  134, 

171  ;    colonial  industry   encouraged 

by  France,   106. 
Combs,    General   Leslie,    captain  and 

scout  at  Fort  Meigs,  358;  runs  the 

gauntlet,  ib. 
Commanders  at  Detroit :    their  names, 

93  ;  their  privileges,  87,  97. 
Commission  of  charities,  561. 
Compiled  Laws,  542. 
Concessions  of  land,  71,  79,  90. 
Conges  or  trade  licenses,  25,  69. 
Connor,  Richard,  with  Moravians,  187. 
Connor,  Henry,  an  interpreter,  187. 
Constantine,     Father,    a     missionary, 

killed,  67  n. 

Constitution  of  Michigan  of  1835,  462, 
538;  of  1850,  539,  540,  544,  571, 
572. 

Constitutional  commission  and  its  fail- 
ure, 573. 

Contencinau,  Jean,  executed  at  Detroit 
by  order  of  Dejean,  166. 

Conti,  Princess  of,  a  patroness  of 
Tonty,  33. 

Convention  to  form  constitution,  462  ; 
to  consider  conditions  of  admission, 
475;  Frost-bitten,  477;  second  con- 
stitutional, 539  ;  third  constitutional, 
572. 

Cooley,  Thomas  M.,  Judge,  569,  555; 
compiles  Statutes,  542. 

Copper  mines  on  Lake  Superior,  147, 
148,  529. 

Corporation  laws,  538. 

Corrigenda:  page  197,  line  21,  for 
"administration"  read  "admiration"; 
page  326,  line  8,  for  "lesson"  read 
"  lessen." 

Council  of  Northwest  Territory,  208  ; 
of  Michigan,  1,  409,  411-13,  416. 


688 


INDEX 


County  of  Wayne  established,  205 ; 
the  only  county  until  Cass's  admin- 
istration, 262  ;  re-established,  382 ; 
counties   organized,    382,    383,  388, 

407,  433,  547,  57o. 

County  commissioners,  389,  509 ; 
county  officers  made  elective,  413 ; 
county  systems,  425,  509. 

Coureurs  de  bois,  or  bushrangers,  14, 
15,  25,  40,  50,  52. 

Courtemanche,  a  French  officer,  39. 

Courts :  none  under  the  French,  78 ; 
created  by  military  commanders, 
141 ;  in  Upper  Canada  and  Michigan 
under  the  British,  159,  161,  194;  in 
Northwest  Territory,  205 ;  in  Mich- 
igan Territory,  240,  250,  262,  410, 
463 ;  in  the  State  of  Michigan, 
Chaps.  XV.  and  XVI.  passim. 


Craig,  Sir  James,  Governor  General  of 
Canada,  warns  the  United  States 
against  Tecumseh,  259  ;  sends  John 
Henry  to  intrigue  in  New  England 
for  disunion,  259. 

Crapo,  Henry  H.,  Governor,  541,  568, 

571. 
Crary,  Isaac  E.,  first    Representative, 

465. 

Crawford  County  (Wisconsin),  388. 

Croghan,  Colonel  George,  British 
agent,  120,  139. 

Croghan,  Major  George,  heroic  defence 
of  Fort  Stephenson,  360. 

Cuillerier,  Alexis,  wrongly  convicted, 
and  vindicated,   125. 

Currency,  paper  and  miscellaneous  ar- 
ticles, 262,  384-5. 

Curtish,  Captain,  of  the  British  army, 
befriends  American  prisoners,  349. 


Dalliba,  James,  Captain  of  Artillery,   | 

prevented  from  firing  on  the  British   ! 

batteries  by  Hull,  296-7. 
Dalzell  (or  Dalyell),  Captain,    arrives   ■ 

at   Detroit,    129;    killed    at  Bloody 

Run,  130. 
Davis,  Jefferson,    custodian   of   Black   ; 

Hawk,  436. 
Dejean,  Philip,  appointed  Judge,  141,   : 

162;    condemns  prisoners  to  death, 

166;    peculiar  relations  with  Gover-   ! 

nor  Hamilton,  170 ;  captured  at  Vin-   J 

cennes  and  made  close   prisoner  in  j 

Virginia,  176. 
Delaware  Indians,  friendly  to  United 

States,  260. 
Delegates  to  Congress,  398. 
Delietto,  Sieur,    commanding   at  Fort 

St.  Louis,  47,  81. 
DeMuy,  Commander  at  Detroit,  93,  97.   j 
Denison,  Elizabeth  and  Scipio,  held  as   ; 

slaves,  246. 
Denny,  |ames,  Major  of  Volunteers  in   I 

Hull's  army,  274. 


asserts  title  to  Michigan,  42. 

Department  of  the  Marine,  contains 
many  records,  5. 

DePeyster,  Arent  Schuyler,  (Major  and 
Colonel),  Commander  at  Mackinaw  : 
sends  aid  to  Hamilton,  174;  suc- 
ceeds to  command  at  Detroit,  178  et 
sea.-,  character,  179;  friend  of  Burns 
and  commander  of  his  regiment,  ib. 

Dequindre,  Fontenay,  has  titres  de 
noblesse,  212. 

Dequindre,  Antoine,  Captain  in  Legion, 
at  Monguagon,  321 ;  receives  thanks 
of  the  Legislature,  ib. 

Deschaillons  de  St.  Ours,  Commander 
at  Detroit,  93. 

Deserters  kidnapped  by  British  officers, 
246. 

Desnoyelles,   Commander   at   Detroit, 

93- 

Desnoyers,  Peter  J.,  banished  by  Proc- 
tor, 356. 

Desnoyers,  Peter,  State  Treasurer,  ib. 


INDEX 


589 


Detroit :  Le  Detroit,  or  the  Strait,  dis- 
covered early,  10 ;  passed  by  Joliet, 
23 ;  visited  by  Dollier  and  Galinee, 
ib.;  by  La  Salle  in  the  Griffin,  35 ; 
Teuchsa  Grondie,  Taochiarontiong, 
Karontaen,  37;  fortified  by  DuLuth 
at  Fort  St.  Joseph,  43 ;  Tonty's  ren- 
dezvous, 44,  45  ;  capture  of  English 
parties,  45 ;  efforts  of  English  and 
Iroquois  to  control  the  passage,  48  ; 
place  of  city  known  as  Wawyachte- 
nok  or  Waweatanong,  51 ;  Cadillac 
authoiized  to  establish  a  town,  53, 
54 ;  *ort  Pontchartrain,  54,  59 ;  af- 
fairs under  Cadillac,  Chap.  V.;  Brit- 
ish intrigues  with  Iroquois  and  ces- 
sion, 56 ;  Indian  attacks,  67  ;  siege 
of  1712,  81;  projected  massacre  of 
1747, 101 ;  supplies  furnished  during 
English  war,  108;  fort  enlarged,  107  ; 
surrendered  to  British,  109  ;  descrip- 
tion, 112,  212,  224;  new  fort  built 
(Fort  Lernoult),  178;  American  oc- 
cupation, 197,  205  ;  business  and 
social  condition,  210,  212,  226,  254, 
420;  incorporated,  222;  burned  in 
1805,  and  new  plans  adopted,  240;  j 
stockaded  in  1807,  248;  affairs  of 
War  of  1812,  Chaps.  XI.  and  XII.; 
social  affairs  under  General  Cass, 
420;  cholera,  437;  schools,  512; 
capital  removed  from,  512,  533. 

Detroit :  armed  vessel  captured  by  El- 
liott, 336;   another  by  Perry,  367. 

Detroit  Gazette  established,  384. 

Dickson,  Robert,  British  Indian  agent, 

283,  358- 

Disloyalty  to  the  United  States  in  up- 
per country,  201,  286. 

Districts  for  judicial  purposes  created 
by  Lord  Dorchester,  159;  by  Gover- 
nor Hull,  241,  262. 


Dodemead,  John,  receives  Indian 
grants,  196;  his  house  used  for  court 
sessions,  219;  court  under  duress 
there,  ib. 

Dodge,  Colonel  Henry,  in  Black  Hawk 
War,  436. 

Dollier  de  Casson,  with  Galinee  and 
LaSalle,  on  exploring  expedition,  23  ; 
pass  through  Detroit  River  and  de- 
stroy a  stone  idol,  ib. 

Dongan,  Governor,  of  New  York,  dis- 
putes with  Governor  of  New  France 
about  northwestern  trade,  13,  42, 43  ; 
sends  expeditions  under  Roseboom 
and  McGregory,  44. 

Dorchester,  {see  Carleton). 

Doty,  James  Duane,  accompanies  Gen- 
eral Cass  in  1820,  401  ;  Territorial 
Judge,  409. 

Douglass,  Columbus  C,  assistant  in 
geological  corps,  488. 

Dousman,  Captain  Michael :  his  course 
at  capture  of  Mackinaw,  284,  286. 

Drummond's  Island,  held  by  British 
after  awarded  to  the  United  States, 
and  used  as  rendezvous  for  Indian 
payments,  401,  406. 

Dubuisson,  Commander  at  Detroit  in 
siege  of  17 12,  81,  82. 

Dudley,  Colonel,  at  Fort  Meigs,  358. 

Duelling  punished,  405. 

Dugue,  a  lieutenant  of  Cadillac,  54. 

DuLuth,  Daniel  Grisolon,  an  eminent 
French  leader,  40,  et  seq.\  goes  to 
France  to  vindicate  himself,  41 ; 
builds  fort  near  Lake  Huron  (Fort 
St.  Joseph),  43 ;  at  capture  of  Mc- 
Gregory, 45 ;  cousin  of  Tonty,  47. 

Durantaye  (de  la),  a  distinguished  of- 
ficer, commanding  at  Mackinaw,  40, 
42;  captures  Roseboom,  44. 

Dutch  cede  New  York  to  England,  29. 


590 


INDEX 


Eaton,  John  H.,  Secretary  of  War, 
429 ;  contemplated  as  Governor  of 
of  Michigan,  ib. 

Education :  Cadillac  desires  to  provide 
for  it  at  Detroit,  70,  71  ;  Vaudreuil 
favors  it,  107 ;  provided  for  by  Or- 
dinance of  1787,  208;  land  set  apart 
for  it  in  Northwest  Territory,  220; 
school  and  University  grants,  230, 
415;  Michigan  University  chartered, 
385,  407,  481  ;  Normal  School,  532 ; 
Agricultural  College,  543*573;  free 
schools  in  Detroit,  512;  generally, 
543 ;  State  Public  School,  561. 

Election  of  delegates  Jo  General  As- 
sembly of  Northwest  Territory,  219; 
of  Legislative  Council,  409,  413, 416 ; 
of  Constitutional  Convention,  443  ; 
first  State  election,  465. 

Elliott,  Jesse  D.,  (Lieutenant,  after- 
wards Commodore),  captures  British 
vessels  Caledonia  and  Detroit,  336 ; 
takes  part  in  Battle  of  Lake  Erie, 
367-8. 

Elliott,  Colonel  Matthew,  (British  In- 
dian agent),  endeavors  to  enlist  De- 
lawares  for  the  British,  182;  tampers 
with  American  Indians,  195,  257 ; 
endeavors  to  recover  fugitive  slaves, 
247 ;  ransoms  American  prisoners 
from  Indians,  349. 


Elliott,  Captain,  (son  of  Matthew), 
summons  Brush  to  surrender,  305  ; 
at  Frenchtown,  344;  promises  to 
Captain  Hart,  345. 

English  :  rivals  of  France,  28 ;  send 
out  western  expeditions,  42,  43; 
charter  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  28  ; 
emissaries  at  Detroit,  67,  77,  81 ;  to 
be  prevented  from  reaching  the  Ohio, 
99,  104;  war  with  France,  108;  un- 
popular with  Indians,  115,  118,  136. 

Erie  Canal,  an  important  agent  in 
western  settlement,  2,  412. 

Erie,  Lake:  its  importance,  41,  42; 
various  names,  57 ;  the  Griffin  the 
first  vessel  on  it,  33  ;  Battle  of,  367  ; 
Walk-in-the-Water,  the  first  steam- 
boat, 395. 

Etherington,  George,  (Captain  and 
Major),  commanding  at  Mackinaw 
in  1763,  118;  duped  by  Indian  ball- 
play,  121 ;  capture  and  adventures, 
122. 

Evidence,  rules  of,  modified,  523. 

Exploring  expeditions:  sent  to  find 
the  South  Sea,  21,  29  ;  LaSalle  and 
St.  Lusson,  21 ;  Joliet,  Marquette, 
30 ;  Dollier  and  Galinee,  23  ;  La- 
Salle's  great  voyage,  33  ;  McGregory 
and  Roseboom,  44;  Cass  and  School- 
craft, 401 ;  Cass  and  McKenney,  414. 

Exports,  389,  416,  417. 


Famine  threatened  at  Detroit,  101, 
106. 

Farnsworth,  Elon,  Chancellor,  480,  516. 

Faux-saulniers,  or  salt  smugglers,  de- 
sirable colonists,  16;  sent  to  build 
New  Orleans,  16  ;  wanted  in  Canada, 
89  ;  to  be  sent  to  Detroit,  105. 

Felch,  Alpheus,  Governor,  536;  Sen- 
ator, 537. 

Female  suffrage  rejected,  572. 


Feudal  rights  of  Cadillac,  66,  71,  87; 

government    grants    at    Detroit    in 

roture  and  not  feudal,  91. 
Financial  troubles    of  Michigan,    501, 

508,  513- 
Findlay,  James,  member  of  Council  of 

Northwest  Territory,  219;  colonel  of 

Ohio  volunteers  in  Hull's  army,  273  ; 

at  surrender  of  Detroit,  299,  302. 
Fisher,   James,    Sergeant,    in    British 


INDEX 


591 


army,  murdered  by  Pontiac's  Indians 
at  Hog  Island,  125  ;  Cuillerier 
wrongly  condemned  for  drowning  his 
child,  ib. 

Flag  staff  at  Detroit,  not  used  by 
Americans  after  Hull's  surrender, 
371 ;  blown  down,  ib. 

Fletcher,  William  A.,  Judge  and  Re- 
viser, 480,  509. 

Flour,  first  exported  from  the  Territory, 
417. 

Forests  recklessly  destroyed,  574. 

Forged  letter,  sent  to  stop  enlistments 
Wi  Kentucky,  363. 

Formality  of  public  acts  of  French  of- 
ficers, 78 

Fort  St.  Joseph,  on  St.  Joseph  River, 
39,  120;  St.  Joseph,  on  St.  Clair 
River,  built  by  DuLuth,  43 ;  burned 
and  evacuated  by  La  Hontan,  49  ; 
Mackinaw,  19,  25,  39,  48,  69 ;  posi- 
tion changed  at  various  times,  12, 
112,  188;  captured  by  Indians,  121  ; 
moved  to  Island  of  Michilimackinac, 
188;  captured  by  British,  284;  re- 
stored to  United  States,  378  ;  Pont- 
chartrain,  built  by  Cadillac  in  1701, 
54,  59  ;  former  fort  in  1687,  44 1 
British  propose  to  build  one  at  Wa- 
wyachtenok,  51  ;  attacked  by  In- 
dians, 67 ;  besieged  by  Indians  in 
1711,  81;  enlarged,  107;  surrender- 
ed to  British,  109 ;  Lernoult,  at  De- 
troit, back  of  old  town,  178;  retain- 


ed by  British  in  violation  of  treaty 
of  peace,  189,  192;  delivered  up  to 
Americans,  197 ;  surrendered  to 
British  by  Hull,  302  ;  recaptured  by 
Harrison,  and  held  by  Duncan  Mc- 
Arthur,  370 ;  abandoned  and  dis- 
mantled, 415;  Gratiot,  built  in  1814, 
376;  Brady,  at  Sault  Ste.  Mane,  or- 
iginally belonged  to  Repentigny,  107; 
abandoned,  III,  120;  established  by 
United  States,  403-4;  garrison  pre- 
vent Michigan  from  building  ship 
canal,  502-3. 

Foxes  (or  Outagamies)  besiege  Detroit, 
81  ;  defeated  and  slaughtered,  83. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  desires  to  extend 
settlements,  131,  151,  154. 

French  writers  and  explorers,  4. 

French  system  unfavorable  to  freedom, 

77,  171. 
French  popular  with  Indians,  22,  117, 
118,  122,  333;  British  suspicious  of 
their  loyalty,  135  ;  mostly  loyal,  170  ; 
not  zealous  against  the  Americans, 
279,  322  ;  Proctor's  efforts  to  intimi- 
date and  seduce  them  in  Michigan, 

334- 
Frenchtown,  battles  and  massacre,  338 

-345- 
Frontenac,  Governor  of  New  Prance, 

33>  40. 
Fur  trade,  the  chief  colonial  interest, 
9,  25,40,  138;    attempts  to  control 
it,  42,  48,  52,  196,  198. 


Gage,  General,   Commander-in-Chief, 

117,  145. 

Galinee,  (see  Dollier). 

Galissonniere,  Marquis  de  la,  Governor 
General  of  New  France,  favors  De- 
troit, 69,  94;  liberal  views,  104; 
suggestions  concerning  Detroit,  105. 

Ganatchio,  a  name  of  Lake  Ste.  Claire, 
38. 

Gatineau,  a  Detroit  monopolist,  88. 


General  Assembly  of  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory :  members  from  Wayne  Coun- 
ty, 219  ;  troubles  at  Chillicothe,  223 ; 
differences  with  Governor,  220. 

Geological  survey  organized  by  Doctor 
Houghton,  487,  527. 

Gilpin,  Henry  D.,  nominated  for  Gov- 
ernor and  rejected,  441. 

Gladwin,  Major,  commanding  at  De- 
troit in  Pontiac  war,  116,  123. 


592 


INDEX. 


Gnadenhutten,  New,  founded  by  Zeis- 
berger,  on  Clinton  River,  184;  Mo- 
ravian road  to,  185 ;  abandoned, 
187. 

Godfroy,  Monsieur  (Jaques  ?),  commu- 
nicates with  Pontiac,  127.  ' 

Godfroy,  Colonel  Gabriel :  his  post  on 
the  Raisin,  297 ;  aids  American 
prisoners,  350 ;  intercedes  for  Oke- 
mos,  364. 

Goodwin,  Daniel,  Judge,  475. 

Gordon,  Lieutenant  Governor  James 
Wright,  514. 

Gorrell,  Lieutenant,  in  command  at 
Green  Bay,  118;  adventures  in  Pon- 
tiac war,  122. 

Governors  of  New  France:  annoyed 
by  intrigues.  5,  18,  21. 

Governor  General  of  Canada :  his 
powers  under  King's  proclamation, 
132;  under  Quebec  Act,  155. 

Governor  and  Judges :  powers  under 
Ordinance  of  1787,  207;  acts  in 
Michigan,  Chaps.  X.  and  XIII  ;  last 
act  as  land  board,  479. 

Governors  of  Michigan  Territory: 
Hull,  Chaps.  X.  and  XL;  Cass, 
Chap.  XIIL;  Porter,  Chap.  XIV.; 
of  State,  Chaps.  XV.  and  XVI. 
passim. 

Grand  jury  system,  partially  abandon- 
ed, 562. 

Grandfontaine,  Governor  of  Acadia, 
sends  out  Joliet,  30. 

Grants  of  land :  by  Cadillac,  7 1 ;  by 
Governor  and  Intendant,  80,  89,  90  ; 
of  lots  within  the  fort  at  Detroit,  94 ; 


from  Indians,  120,  140,  170,  193,  196; 
mostly  invalid,  231  ;  by  Governor 
and  Judges  in  Detroit,  241,  243 ;  by 
Congress  in  Michigan,  243,  286. 

Gratiot,  Fort,  built,  376. 

Graverat,  Garret :  under  bonds  during 
Revolution,  165 ;  ill-treated  by  De- 
Peyster,  180. 

Graves,  Major:  at  the  River  Raisin 
battles  and  massacre,  338,  342,  343  ; 
carried  away  by  Indians,  346;  prob- 
able fate,  346,  348. 

Graves,  Benjamin  F.,  Judge  of  Supreme 
Court,  569. 

Green,  Judge  Sanford  M.,  reviser  of 
Statutes,  510,  523. 

Green  Bay,  Gorrell  at,  118;  people 
disloyal  to  United  States,    201,  286. 

Greenville, Wayne  makes  treaty  at,  196. 

Gregoire,  Madame,  heiress  of  Cadillac, 
80. 

Griffin,  the  first  vessel  on  Lake  Erie, 
built  by  LaSalle,  33  ;  leaves  Niagara 
River,  35;  reaches  Detroit,  37; 
reaches  Mackinaw,  38. 

Griffin,  John,  Territorial  Judge,  237, 
and  Chap.  X.;  loses  office,  411. 

Grisolon  {see  DuLutti)  de  la  Tourette, 
brother  of  DuLuth,  46. 

Griswold,  Stanley,  Territorial  Secre- 
tary, 237. 

Grosse  He,  a  large  island  at  mouth  of 
Detroit  River,  58 ;  proposed  site  of 
town,  58;  attack  on  Frenchmen 
there  by  Indians,  102;  granted  to 
Alexander  Macomb,  170;  British 
undertake  to  assert  authority  there, 
378. 


H 


Haldimand,  Governor  General,  re- 
fuses to  give  up  western  posts,  189, 
270. 

Half  century  of  the  Republic  com- 
pleted, 3. 


Hall,  General,  communicates  with 
Hull,  290. 

Hamilton,  Henry,  Lieutenant  Governor 
at  Detroit,  158,165;  relations  with 
Dejean,  170;    military  action,  174; 


INDEX. 


593 


captured  at  Vincennes,  177;  confined 
closely  in  Virginia,  177. 

Hanks,  Lieutenant  Porter,  taken  pris- 
oner at  Mackinaw,  285 ;  killed  at 
Detroit,  300. 

Harrison,  General  William  Henry : 
delegate  to  Congress,  220  ;  Governor 
of  Indiana,  236 ;  defeats  Indians  at 
Tippecanoe,  260 ;  commands  north- 
western army,  335,3571  holds  Fort 
Meigs,  357;  occupies  Maiden,  369; 
occupies  Detroit,  370;  gains  Battle 
of  the  Thames,  371,  and  see  Chap. 
XII.  passim;     conciliates    Indians, 

372-3. 
Hart,    Captain:    captured   at    French- 
town,    345;     murdered   by    Indians, 
346 ;   buried  with  honors  at  Detroit, 

374,  394- 
Haven,  Rev.  E.  O.,  (D.D.),  President  I 

of  University,  554. 
Hay,   John,    Colonel:      made    Indian 

agent  at  Pontiac's  request,  136;  cap-  ! 

tured  with  Hamilton  at  Vincennes, 

176;    imprisoned,  177 ;    exchanged, 

ib.\  made  Lieutenant  Governor,  186; 

dies,  ib. 
Heald,    Captain,  ordered   by  Hull  to 

evacuate  Chicago,  293  ;  misfortunes, 

295- 
Helm,  Mrs.  Margaret,  at  Chicago  mas-  ! 

sacre,  295  ;  harshly  treated  by  Proc-  j 

tor,  295,  355. 
Helm,    Captain,   garrisons    Vincennes 

with  one  soldier  and  receives  honors 

of  war  on  surrender,  1 74. 
Hennepin,  Father  Louis,  companion  of 

LaSalle,  4,  6,  34.     . 
Henry,    Alexander,    a   British   trader :   . 

adventures    at    Mackinaw,   etc.,    in 

Pontiac  war,  in,  121,  122;  attempts 

mining  on  Lake  Superior,  147. 
Henry,  John,  a  British  agent  employed 

to  excite  disunion  in  New  England, 

259- 
Hesse,    a  Canadian  district   including 
Michigan,  159,  161. 

39 


Higgins,    Sylvester    W.,    topographer, 

488,  519. 
Historical  Society,  422. 
Hocquart,  Intendant,  88. 
Hog  Island,  (see  Belle  Isle). 
Holmes,.  Major,    killed   at   Mackinaw, 

373- 

Homesteads,  543. 

Horner,  John  S. :  his  experience  as 
Secretary  of  the  Territory,  465-469. 

Horses  :  at  Detroit  in  Cadillac's  time, 
61;  subsequently,  86;  numbers  in 
Canada,  87;  none  at  Oswego,  lb.; 
wild,  at  Detroit,  389  ;  used  as  pack- 
animals,  390. 

Houghton,  Doctor  Douglass,  at  De- 
troit, 423;  State  Geologist,  487; 
plans  northern  surveys,  527-8 ;  death, 
423,  529. 

Houses:  in  Detroit,  in  early  days,  62, 
63  ;  cost  of  Bellestre's,  63  ;  number 
in  1760,  112;  in  1 796,  213;  style  of, 
213,  215. 

Howard,  Jacob  M.,  Senator,  440,  467 

570- 

Hubbard,  Bela,  assistant  geologist, 
488;  his  haunted  mill,  217. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company  incorporated, 
28. 

Hull,  William,  Governor  of  Michigan 
Territory,  Chaps.  X.  and  XL;  ap- 
pointed Governor,  237  ;  reaches  De- 
troit, 239;  creates  court  districts, 
241  ;  organizes  militia,  242;  discords 
inboard,  241,244;  makes  treaties, 
247  ;  builds  stockade,  248 ;  enrolls 
negro  militia,  249 ;  troubles  with 
Woodward,  251 ;  goes  to  Washing- 
ton, 261  ;  views  on  war,  267,  271-2  ; 
Revolutionary  record,  269 ;  other 
antecedents,  270;  appointed  to  com- 
mand, 273  ;  ,over-nicety,  274 ;  reaches 
the  Maumee,  275  ;  sends  vessels  to 
Detroit — one  captured  at  Maiden, 
276;  reaches  Springwells,  277; 
crosses  into  Canada,  278 ;  effect  ol 
his  proclamation,  279 ;    delays,  280- 


594 


INDEX 


282,  289  ;  orders  attack  on  Maiden, 
290;  retreats  from  Canada,  ib*\  me- 
ditates surrender,  292 ;  orders  evac- 
uation of  Fort  Dearborn  at  Chicago, 
293  ;  refuses  to  attack  batteries,  297 ; 
sends  out  Cass  and  McArthur  to  the 
Raisin,  ib.\  refuses  summons  to  cap- 
itulate, 298 ;  makes  no  resistance  to 
Brock,  300 ;  surrenders  without  fight- 
ing, 302 ;  discharged  on  parole,  304, 
315  ;  court  martial,  306  ;  his  defence, 
310;  subsequent  memoirs  on  the 
subject,  314;  reasons  for  dissolving 
first  court,  316;  remarks  on  his  de- 
fence, 318-328. 

Hunt,  John,  Judge,  411. 

Hunt,  Major  Henry  J.,  350,  351. 


Huntington,  Samuel,  declines  judge- 
ship, 237. 

Hurons,  Ouendats  or  Wyandots,  9 ;  at 
Mackinaw,  49;  remove  to  Detroit, 
63  ;  industrious  and  intelligent,  49  ; 
raise  corn  for  sale,  49,  86 ;  mission 
at  Bois-blanc  Island,  99 ;  intrigues 
against  Detroit,  ib.;  mission  removed 
to  Sandwich,  103;  villages  at 
Brownstown  and  Monguagon,  287, 
289,  340,  397 ;  mostly  friendly  to 
United  States,  260;  some  join  the 
British,  280,  287 ;  join  Harrison, 
362 ;  make  treaty,  377  ;  change  re- 
serves, 397. 

Huron,  Lake,  called  Ottawawa,  57. 


1 


Idol,  destroyed  at  Detroit,  23. 

Illinois  Indians,  help  Dubuisson,  82. 

Illinois,  State,  organized,  383 ;  en- 
croaches on  Wisconsin,  ib. 

Imports,  in  Territory,  407-410. 

Indiana :  Territory  organized,  222  ; 
made  to  include  all  Michigan,  223 ; 
State  includes  part  of  Michigan,  383. 

Indian  names  of  counties,  519. 

Indians  :  settle  at  Detroit,  63  ;  Cadillac 
desires  to  civilize  them,  64,  70 ;  con- 
dition in  1718,  85;  occasionally 
troublesome,  67,  81,  101 ;  stirred  up 
by  Pontiac,  117;  dislike  English, 
1 18  ;  not  restrained  by  white  leaders, 
122;  persuaded  against  Americans, 
191,  192,  195,  257;  injured  by  white 
associations,  211;  deceived  by  in- 
terpreters, 131  ;  make  grants  of  land, 
120,  140,  170,  193,  196;  rise  under 
Prophet  and  Tecumseh,  257  ;  course 
in  War  of  1812,  279,^280,  283,  293, 


333,  341,  345,  358,  362,  372,  376; 
make  peace,  373,  376 ;  action  of 
Michigan  Legislature  on  their  be- 
half, 517,  543,  545- 

Intendant's  deputy  at  Detroit,  96. 

Internal  improvement  system  under- 
taken, 483;  ruinous  results,  513; 
abandoned,  ib.,  520. 

Interpreters,  cause  trouble  by  their 
mistakes,  131  n. 

Irish  manuscript,  410. 

Iroquois :  did  not  occupy  Michigan, 
11,  57;  object  to  French  control  of 
the  Strait,  as  the  way  to  the  beaver 
country,  42,  56  ;  convey  their  lands 
to  King  of  England,  56 ;  campaigns, 
27,  46. 

Islands  :  in  boundary  waters,  long  un- 
settled as  to  nationality,  2  ;  in  Lake 
Superior,  named  after  Pontchartrain 
and  his  family,  95  ;  lost  islands,  96 ; 
in  Detroit  River,  58,  59,  124. 


Jailor,   compelled   to   pay  tavern  li-      Jay's  Treaty,  196,  246. 

cense,  263.  j  Jessup,  brigade  major  at  Detroit,  299. 


INDEX 


595 


Jesuits:  opposed  to  settlements,  18 
their  zeal,  ib,\  rivalry  with  other  or 
ders,  29 ;  troubles  at  Detroit,  63. 

Jogues,  Father,  II. 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  Indian  Superin-  j 
tendent,  Chap.  VII.  passim. 

Johnson,  Colonel  Richard  M.,  com-  1 
mands  mounted  rangers,  363 ;  ar-  j 
rives  at  Detroit,  371 ;  breaks  British  j 
lines  at  the  Thames,  id.;  kills  Te-  ] 
cumseh,  372;  Vice  President,  478. 

Johnston,  John,  trader  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  aids  in  capture  of  Mackinaw, 
284,'  402. 

Joliet,  30. 

Joncaire,  Chevalier  Francois  Chabert 
de,  114,  147,  181 ;  represents  Wayne 
County  in  Assembly  of  Northwest 
Territory,  219. 

Jones,  George  W.,  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, 398,  469. 


Jones,  Richard,  aids  prisoners,  350. 

Jonois,  Father,  missionary  at  L'Arbre 
Croche,  carries  news  of  fall  of  Mack- 
inaw to  Gladwin,  121. 

Jonquiere,  de  la,  Governor,  104. 

Judges  :  none  commissioned  until  1788, 
158,  161  ;  Dejean  and  LeGrand  ap- 
pointed by  commanders,  141,  162 ; 
under  Northwest  Territory,  206 ;  in 
Michigan  Territory,  237,  410,  411, 
435  ;  in  State,  463,  469,  480,  569. 

Judiciary  system:  originally  for  life, 
207 ;  changed  in  Michigan  in  1823, 
410  ;  under  State  Constitutions,  463, 
469,  480,  521,  522,  523. 

Jung,  and  Jungman,  Moravian  mission- 
aries, 184. 

Jurisprudence,  French  system  of,  pre- 
served by  Quebec  Act,  153;  abolish- 
ed in  Upper  Canada,  193 ;  in  Mich- 
igan, 262. 


K 


Kandekio,  a  name  of  Lake  St.  Clair, 

38. 

Karontaen,  name  of  Detroit,  37. 

Kaskaskia,  captured,  174;  people 
friendly  to  Americans,  ib. 

Kent,  Professor,  555. 

Kentucky,  invaded  by  Bird,  181  ;  vol- 
unteers from,  335,  363. 

Kidnapping,  deserters  from  Detroit, 
statute  against,  417. 

King's  Mountain,  Shelby  in  Battle  of, 
363- 


King's  proclamation  after  conquest  of 
Canada,  132. 

Kinzie,  John,  of  Chicago,  at  massacre, 
293 ;  ill-treated  by  Proctor,  354 

Kishkaukon,  Saginaw  chief,  trouble- 
some, 376 ;  charged  with  murder, 
and  poisons  himself,  416;    County, 

519 

Knaggs,    Captain    James,    recognizes 

Tecumseh,  372. 
Kundig,  Rev.  Martin,  appropriation  to, 

494. 


Labadie,  Miss,   helps  prisoners,  350. 

La  Butte,  interpreter  during  Pontiac 
war,  127,  131. 

La  Croix,  Hubert,  captain  in  Legion, 
321. 

La  Foret,  Major  de,  (La  Salle's  lieu- 
tenant), 40,  81 ;  at  capture  of  Rose- 
boom  and  McGregory,  44 ;  succeeds 
Cadillac,  80 ;  gives  his  views  about 
Detroit,  84. 


La  Hontan,  Baron  de,  4,  6 ;  commands 
Port  St.  Joseph,  46;  destroys  and 
evacuates  it,  49. 

Lakes,  necessary  ways,  58. 

La  Marque,  Detroit  monopolist,  86. 

La  Mothe,  Captain,  captured  at  Vin- 
cennes,  177. 

La  Motte  Cadillac,  {see  Cadillac). 

Land  Office,  513,  533. 


596 


IN  D  E  X. 


Lands:    at   Detroit,   cfi  good  quality, 
86;    granted   by   Cadillac,    71;    by 
Governor   and    Intendant,   90,    91 ; 
titles  confirmed,    231,   243;    invalid  I 
grants,    139,   170,178,231;    bounty   . 
lands  not  located,  and  why,  379~3^0 1   I 
first  sales  by  United  States  in  181 8,   \ 
395 ;   school  and  University  grants,   j 
220,  230,  481  ;    other   grants,    482, 
5I3;    fraudulent  surveys,  519  ;    sur- 
vey system,  527. 

Langlade,  French  trader  at  Mackinaw  : 
Henry  concealed  in  his  house  after 
massacre,  121 ;  sent  out  by  DePeys- 
ter  with  Indians,  174. 

Lansing,  capital  removed  to,  533 

Lamed,    Charles,    Attorney    General,   ! 
440  ;  died  of  cholera,  ib. 

La  Salle,  Robert  Cavelier,  Sieur  de,  4, 
21  ;  sent  out  to  explore,  23;  en-  j 
nobled,  31 ;  prepares  for  further  ad- 
ventures,  33 ;  builds  the  Griffin,  ib.-, 
Starts  for  the  Mississippi,  35 ; 
reaches  the  Detroit,  37;  reaches 
Mackinaw,  38 ;  builds  fort  on  the  j 
St.  Joseph,  39- 

Lasselle,  Miss,  aids  prisoners,  350. 

Law  school  of  University.  555. 

Legion,  Michigan,  321. 

Legislative    Board   of    Governor    and  i 
Judges,  207,  237. 

Legislative  Council :  created,  1  ;  met 
in  1824,412;    changed,   1,413,416. 

Le  Grand,  Philip,  acts  judicially  under  j 
military  appointment,  141. 

Lernoult,  Captain  (and  Major)  R.  B., 
168  ;  attends  examination  of  prison- 
era  before  Dejean,  ib.;  builds  fort  at 
Detroit  named  after  him,  178. 


Lewis,  Colonel  William,  in  battles  of 
the  Raisin,  338-344. 

Licenses  to  sell  liquor  forbidden,  553. 

Lieutenant  Governors:  under  British, 
Hamilton,  Hay  and  Sinclair,  158, 
164,  178;  of  Upper  Canada,  Simcoe, 

*93- 

Liquor  selling:  at  Mackinaw,  64;  re- 
strained by  Cadillac,  65  ;  by  regula- 
tions of  Detroit  merchants,  65,  164 ; 
legislation  before  surrender  of  De- 
troit, 261 ;  by  State  laws,  553. 

Livingston,  Lieutenant  Governor,  of 
New  York,  approves  of  bushrangers, 
16,  52 ;  his  schemes  against  Detroit, 

52. 
Livre,  tournois  and  parisis,  63. 
Loan,    Five    Million,    494,    496-502 ; 

loans  restricted,  514,  542. 
Local  government :  unknown  to  French 

colonists,  77,  171  ;    not  provided  for 

under    Hull's    administration,    262; 

views  of  General  Cass  on,  392,  41 3. 
Lods  et  ventes,  reserved  in  grants,  91 ; 

their  amount,  98. 
Longueuil,  Chevalier  de,   Commander 

at  Detroit,  93,  100  ;    decorated  with 

Cross  of  St.  Louis,  100. 
Lottery,  authorized  for  public  purposes, 

241. 
Louisiana  :    did  not  include  Michigan, 

8 ;    Cadillac  made  Governor  of,  76. 
Louis  XIV.,  ambitious  of  territory,  20. 
Lucas,  LaSalle's  pilot,  35. 
Lucas,  Robert,  Governor  of  Ohio,  in- 
volved  in   boundary   disputes,  445, 

447- 
Lusigny,  leader  of  bushrangers,  40. 
Lyon,    Lucius,    delegate   to  Congress, 

399 ;  Senator,  469. 


M 


Mc Arthur,  Colonel  (and  General) 
Duncan :  commands  regiment  in 
Hull's  army,  273 ;  advises  him  of 
impending  war,    276 ;    makes  foray 


up  the  Thames,  279 ;  detached  with 
Cass  before  surrender,  297 ;  in  com- 
mand at  Detroit,  370 ;  raid  through 
Canada,  373. 


INDEX. 


597 


McClelland,  Robert,  Governor,  545. 

McCracken,  Captain  Virgin,  murdered 
at  Frenchtown,  346. 

McDonell,  John,  350. 

McDougall,  Lieutenant  George,  goes 
with  Major  Campbell  to  Pontiac's 
camp,  128;  escapes,  ib.;  obtains 
grant  of  Hog  Island,  170. 

McGregor,  Gregor,  appointed  first 
sheriff  by  Lord  Dorchester,  161. 

McGregory,  Major  Patrick,  sent  on  ex- 
pedition to  Mackinaw,  43  ;  captured 
by  Tonty  and  his  associates,  45. 

McKee,  Colonel,  British  Indian  agent : 
his  stores  destroyed  by  Wayne,  195  ; 
at  Maiden,  257;  protects  inhabitants 
of  Detroit,  333. 

McKeehan,  Doctor,  sent  to  attend 
prisoners,  and  captured,  346 ;  cruelly 
treated,  ib. 

McKenney,  Colonel,  accompanies  Cass 
to  Lake  Superior,  414. 

McKinney,  John,  defaulting  State 
Treasurer,  565. 

McKinstry,  Colonel  David  C,  opposes 
Secretary  Mason's  appointment,  430. 

Macaulay,  Zachary,  signs  protest 
against  Quebec  Act,   158. 

Mack,  Stephen,  an  officer  of  the  Le- 
gion, 321 ;  helps  prisoners,  350. 

Mackinaw  :  an  early  post  and  mission, 
12,  13,  19;  position  of  fort,  12,  48, 
112;  captured  by  Indians,  121 ;  dif- 
ficulties with  Major  Rogers,  145 ; 
fort  removed  to  Island  of  Michili- 
mackinac,  188;  captured  by  British, 
285 ;  some  of  its  people  disloyal, 
286 ;  failure  of  attempt  to  recapture, 
373  ;  restored  to  United  States,  377  ; 
extensive  business,  407,  410 ;  trouble 
with  Mormons  on  Beaver  Island,  549. 

Mackintosh,  Angus,  of  Detroit,  inherits 
Moy  estates,  136  n.;  hospitality,  212. 

Macomb,  Alexander,  merchant:  on 
committee  to  regulate  liquor  sales, 
164;  obtains  grant  of  Grosse  He, 
170. 


Macomb,  Alexander,  General,  receives 

sword  of  honor,  384. 
Macomb,     William,    helps     prisoners, 

35°- 

Macomb  County,  388. 

Madison,  Major,  at  Battles  of  French- 
town,  338-345. 

Madison,  President,  324. 

Maiden  (or  Amherstburgh)  :  built  on 
American  occupation  of  Michigan, 
228 ;  why  not  placed  on  Bois-blanc 
Island,  229  ;  centre  of  Indian  trans- 
actions, 257 ;  Hull  fails  to  take  it, 
279,  292,  308,  310;  forces  from,  at 
Frenchtown,  337,  340;  prisoners 
taken  there,  345 ;  Barclay  gathers 
his  fleet,  366 ;  Proctor  evacuates  and 
partially  destroys,  369;  Harrison 
occupies,  ib.;  restored  to  British,  378; 
vexatious  conduct  of  officers  there,  ib. 

Manitous,  24. 

Manning,  Randolph,  Chancellor  and 
Judge,  480,  569. 

Mansfield,  Captain,  at  Detroit,  304. 

Mansfield,  Lord:  inconsistency,  132, 
156. 

Manufactures :  opposed  by  English, 
106 ;  encouraged  by  French,  ib.;  ex- 
tension of  settlements  opposed,  as 
dangerous  to  British  industry,    138, 

Marietta  colonists  at  Detroit,  217. 
Marion,  Fontaine,  shot   for   acting  as 

British  guide,  46. 
Marquette,  Father,  13. 
Marriages :      performed     by     military 

commanders,    179;      sanctioned    by 

Canadian  legislation,  204. 
Married  women,  secured  in  their  pro- 
perty, 520. 
Marston,    Isaac,    Judge    of    Supreme 

Court,  569. 
Martin,  George,  Chief  Justice,  569. 
Martial  law :    kept  up  after  conquest, 

under    King's     proclamation,     132 ; 

under  Quebec  Act,   158. 
Mascoutins,  besiege  Detroit,  81. 


598 


INDEX 


Mason,  General  John  T.,  Secretary  of 
Michigan  Territory,  428. 

Mason,  Stevens  Thomson,  Secretary  of 
Michigan  Territory,  before  his  com- 
ing of  age,  429';  objections  to  his 
appointment,  id.',  maintains  bound- 
ary rights  of  Territory,  446,  448; 
superseded  by  Charles  Shaler  and 
John  S.  Horner,  465  ;  elected  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  ib.\  negotiates 
loan,  and  is  cheated,  497-501. 

Massacre,  planned  against  Detroit,  101, 
123;  at  MackinaWj  121  ;  at  Chicago, 
295  ;  at  Frenchtown,  345. 

Maumee  Rapids :  British  build  fort 
there  after  the  Revolution,  195 ; 
Wayne  defeats  Indians  there,  ib.\ 
Hull  sends  vessels  to  Detroit  from, 
276;    Harrison  builds   Fort    Meigs, 

357- 

Maurepas,  Count,  friendly  to  Canada, 
94. 

May,  James,  Judge,  205 ;  aids  prison- 
ers, 350. 

Mechanics,  in  colony,  34,  62. 

Medaminabo,  391. 

Medical  school  at  University,  532,  557. 

Meigs,    Fort,    besieged     ineffectually, 

357,  359- 
Meigs,  Return  J.,  Governor  of  Ohio, 

286,  357. 
Membre,  Father  Zenobe,  accompanies 

LaSalle,  34. 
Menominie    Indians :    at    Detroit,    82 ; 

aid    Gorrell,    119,  122;    aid    British 

against     Americans    at    Mackinaw, 

373- 

Mesnard,  Father  Rene,  missionary  on 
Lake  Superior,  1 1 ;  dies  at  the  por- 
tage of  Keweenaw  Point,   12. 

Mexican  War,  521. 

Miami  Indians,  294,  295,  363. 

Michabou,  95,  547. 

Michigan :  French  dependency,  3,  8 ; 
kept  back  from  settlement,  8,  9 ; 
early  posts  and  missions,  10 ;  sur- 
rendered to  British,    109;    retained 


by  Great  Britain  in  violation  of 
treaty,  189;  attempt  to  secure  its 
possession,  198 ;  delivered  up  to 
Americans,  197  ;  included  in  Wayne 
County  of  Northwest  Territory,  205  ; 
represented  in  Assembly,  Chap.  IX. 
passim ;  attached  to  Indiana,  224 ; 
Territory  organized,  231;  its  first 
administration  under  Hull,  Chap.  X.; 
no  new  settlements,  234  ;  no  lands 
in  market,  221,  247  ;  surrendered  to 
British,  302  ;  under  British  military 
rule,  Chap.  XII.;  promised  to  the 
Prophet,  358-9;  re-occupied  by 
Americans,  370;  refuses  to  have  an 
assembly,  391  ;  extended  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi, 383 ;  to  the  Missouri,  440  ; 
prepares  for  and  forms  Constitution, 
435,  442-4,  462 ;  elects  State  officers 
and  representative,  463 ;  first  Leg- 
islature, 469;  Senators  elected,  id.; 
admission  subjected  to  conditions, 
472 ;  rejected  by  convention,  475  ; 
irregular  acceptance,  477 ;  admitted 
into  the  Union,  ib.;  adopts  new  Con- 
stitution, 539. 

Michilimackinac,  {see  'Mackinaw),  coun- 
ty organized,  388. 

Military  interference  with  canal  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie,  502-3. 

Militia,  organized,  205,  242 ;  in  War 
of  1812,  321. 

Miller,  Lieutenant  Colonel  James :  in 
Hull's  army,  273 ;  at  Battle  of  Mon- 
guagon,  289,  296;  brevetted,  329; 
exchanged  for  Dacres,  305. 

Miller,  Oliver  W.,  befriends  prisoners, 
35o. 

Miller  &  Jermain,  first  ship  flour  to  the 
east,  417. 

Mills,  David,  M.  P.,  makes  report  on 
Canadian  boundary,  29. 

Mills:  at  Detroit,  74,  216;  moulin 
banal,  73,  90 ;  water  mill  authorized 
by  Boishebert,  90;    wind  mills,  216. 

Mines,  on  Lake  Superior,  147,  148. 


INDEX 


599 


Minong  Island,  disappearance  from 
maps,  95. 

Missions :  early,  10,  1 1  ;  Huron,  at 
Bois-blanc,  99 ;  removed  to  Sand- 
wich, 103. 

Money :  current,  262 ;  paper,  shin- 
plasters  and  dicker,  384,  490-2,  497  ; 
scrip,  501. 

Monguagon,  Battle  of,  289,  296. 

Monroe  County,  organized,  383. 

Monroe,  James,  President,  visits  De- 
troit, 383. 

Montreal  Point,  opposite  Detroit,  104. 

Moore,  Thomas,  major  in  Ohio  volun- 
teers, 274. 


Moravians :  Zeisberger  and  others 
brought  prisoners  to  Detroit,  183; 
settle  at  New  Gnadenhutten,  184 ; 
abandon  it,  187. 

Morell,  George,  Territorial  and  State 
Judge,  435,  480. 

Mormons,  establish  kingdom  on  Bea- 
ver Islands,  549;  its  fate,  551. 

Morrison,  Robert,  major  in  Ohio  vol- 
unteers, 274. 

Muir,  Major,  British  Commander  at 
Detroit,  349,  353. 

Mundy,  Edward,  first  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor, 465. 

Munson,  J.  R.,  major  of  Ohio  volun- 
teers, 274. 


N 


Navarre,  Robert,  deputy  of  the  In- 
tendant,  96,  97,  99. 

Negroes:  retained  as  slaves,  204,  246  ; 
not  restored  when  fugitives  from 
Canada,  246;  enrolled  as  militia, 
249;    peculiar  laws  concerning,  417. 

New  France,  included  Michigan,  8. 

Newspapers:  none  in  Canada,  152; 
Michigan  Essay,  255 ;  Detroit  Ga- 
zette, 384;  Michigan  Herald,  412. 

New  York :  ceded  to  England,  29 ; 
controversy  with,  for  western  trade, 
42. 

Nicholas,  a  Huron  chief,  plots  against 
Detroit,  102. 


Noblesse,  French  citizens  belonging  to, 
212. 

Nolan,  Detroit  monopolist,  88. 

Normal  School,  532,  543. 

Northwest  Company:  opposed  to  set- 
tlements, 257;  quarters  at  the  Sauk, 
402. 

Northwest  Territory,  Chap.  IX. 

Norvell,  John,  one  of  the  first  Sena- 
tors, 469. 

Notary,  an  important  officer,  78,  97. 

Noyan,  Monsieur  de,  Commander  at 
Detroit,  93. 


O 

Ochswego    or    Oswego,    a  name  of  j 
Lake  Erie,  57. 

Officers  :  English,  disliked  by  Indians, 
175  ;  Scottish,  more  acceptable,  136; 
British,  at  Maiden,  exceed  their  au- 
thority, 378,  379. 

Ohio :  organized  as  a  State,  222 ;  fur- 
nishes volunteers  for  Hull's  army, 
273  ;  operations  after  Hull's  surren- 
der, Chap.  XII.;  boundary  dispute 
with,  444-463- 


Okemos,  a  nephew  of  Pontiac,  119; 
roughly  handled  by  American  ran- 
gers, 364;  submits  to  the  United 
States,  365. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  206. 

Ordinances  of  Detroit  peculiar,  224, 
227. 

Oregon  resolutions,  520. 

Orotoni,  a  Huron  chief,  102. 

Osages,  aid  Dubuisson,  81. 

Otsiketa,  a  name  of  Lake  St.  Clair, 
38. 


600 


INDEX 


Ottawas:  at  Mackinaw,  49;  at  De- 
troit, 49,  82  ;  raise  good  crops,  85  ; 
hostile,  363. 

Ottawawa,  (Lake  Huron),  57. 

Ouendats,  [see  Hurons). 


Outagamies,  attack  Detroit,  8i ;  de- 
feated, 84. 

Owen,  John,  State  Treasurer,  saves  the 
State  credit,  565. 


Packhorses,  used  for  transportation, 

39°- 
Pajot,  Commander  at  Detroit,  93. 
Panis  or  Pawnees,  slaves,  113;  at  De- 
troit, ib.  note ;  woman  conceals  Henry 

at  Mackinaw  during  massacre,  121. 
Paris,  Treaty  of,  113. 
Parkman,  Francis,  4,  120. 
Passing  bell,   discontinued   in  cholera 

year,  438. 
Patriot  War,  511. 
Pattinson,     Richard,     obtains    Indian 

grants,  196;    partner  in  scheme  for 

acquiring  Michigan,  199. 
Pean,  Hugues,  hereditary  Town- Major 

of  Quebec,  Commander  at  Detroit, 

91 ;  rapacity  and  punishment,  92. 
Pelee,    Pointer    Dollier    and    Galiflee 

wrecked  there,  23. 
Perry,    Commodore    Oliver     Hazard, 

prepares  fleet  at  Erie,  365  ;    defeats 

British  fleet  on  Lake  Erie,  367 ;  acts  j 

as  aid  to  Harrison  in  Battle  of  the  \ 

Thames,  372. 
Phelyppeaux  family,  94. 
Pierce,    John    D.,    Superintendent    of 

Public  Instruction,  481,  513. 
Pioneers,  usually  honest,  15. 
Political   difficulties    introduced,   419- 

432. 
Pollard,  Reverend  Richard,   befriends 

prisoners,  349. 
Ponies,  numerous  in  the  woods,  hardy 

and  useful,  389. 
Pontchartrain,  Count,  at  Quebec,  67 ; 

friendly    to    Cadillac,    70;      places 

named  for  him,  95. 
Pontchartrain,  Fort,  built  by  Cadillac 

at  Detroit,  54,  59;  enlarged,  107. 


Pontiac,  Chief  of  the  Ottawas :  meets 
Rogers  at  Cuyahoga  River,  115;  his 
plots  and  massacres,  Chap.  VII. 
passim;  his  sagacity,  257;  makes 
grants  of  land,  120,  140. 

Population:  of  Detroit,  in  1760,  112; 
in  1796,  213;  of  Territory,  234. 

Portage  of  Keweenaw  Point :  Mesnard 
lost  there,  12. 

Portage  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie :  expense 
of  transportation,  506,  529. 

Porter,  Captain,  takes  possession  of 
Detroit,  197. 

Porter,  Augustus  S.,  Senator,  514. 

Porter,  George  B.,  Territorial  Gover- 
nor, 429;  dies  of  cholera,  446. 

Porter,  Peter  B.,  General,  324. 

Posts,  western,  retained  by  Great  Bri- 
tain wrongfully,  189. 

Potawatamies :  aid  Dubuisson,  82 ; 
raise  large  crops,  85  ;  cede  their  vil- 
lages to  Chene  and  Navarre,  150, 
151 ;  attack  fort  on  St.  Joseph,  120; 
hostile  to  United  States,  363. 

Potier,  Father,  missionary  among  the 
Hurons,  99,  103 

Powell,  William  Dummer,  first  Judge 
in  Western  District,  161. 

Povvnall,  Governor,  on  French  settle- 
ments, 17,  108. 

Praline,  391. 

Printing  press:  none  in  Canada,  6; 
first  introduced  in  Michigan,  255. 

Prisoners :  massacred  at  Frenchtown, 
345;  ransomed  at  Detroit,  349  ;  run 
the  gauntlet  at  Fort  Meigs,  358. 

Proctor,  Henry,  Colonel  and  General : 
assumes  command  at  Maiden,  287  ; 
at  Detroit,  33 1  ;    organizes  govern- 


INDEX 


601 


ment,  332 ;  commands  at  battles  of 
Frenchtown,  342-345  ;  cruelty,  346 ; 
forbids  ransom  of  prisoners  from  In- 
dians, 351 ;  remonstrated  with  by- 
Woodward,  352 ;  banishes  citizens, 
354,  355;  moves  into  Ohio,  357; 
repulsed  at  Fort  Meigs,  ib.-}   cruelty 


Q 


Quebec  Act:   passed,  152,  153;  op- 
posed, 157;  not  enforced  in  Western 


to  prisoners,  358;  rebuked  by  Te- 
cumseh,  ib.\  assaults  Fort  Stephen- 
son, 360 ;  defeated  and  retreats,  362 ; 
evacuates  Maiden,  369 ;  insulted  by 
Tecumseh,  ib.)  overtaken  and  de- 
feated by  Harrison,  371. 


Canada  or  Michigan,   158;    repealed 
as  to  Upper  Canada,  193. 


Railroads:     first     chartered,     418; 

owned  by    State,    483,   495 ;     sold, 

496,  520. 
Raisin,   River,   battles  and   massacre, 

338-345. 
Randall,    Robert,    attempts    to    bribe 

members  of  Congress  to  dispose  of 

Michigan  to  Detroit  company,  199. 
Ransom  of  prisoners :    from  Indians, 

after    Frenchtown    massacre,    349 ; 

forbidden  by  Proctor,  351. 
Ransom,    Epaphroditus,   Judge,    480; 

Governor,  537. 
Raquette,  used  in  ball-play,  121. 
Raymbault,  missionary,  n. 
Reaume,  an  early  Detroit  settler,  88 ; 

a  Green  Bay  magistrate  of  eccentric 

jurisdiction,  160. 
Rebellion,    services   of    Michigan   in, 

566. 
RScollets,  early  missionaries,  10. 
Records,    removed    from    Detroit    to 

Quebec,  190. 
Recreations  of  old  citizens,  212,  218, 

224,  422.  ' 
Reed,  Ebenezer,  384. 
Reform  School,  559. 
Reid,  Duncan,  350. 
Removals  from  office  multiplied,  419. 
Repentigny,  Chevalier  (and   Marquis) 

de,   obtains   seigneurie,    and  builds 

fort  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  71,  92,  107; 

lost  to  his  family  by  escheat,  93. 

40 


Reserves,  government :  remarks  upon 
abuses  in  extending  exclusive  juris- 
diction over  them,  507. 

Revision  of  statutes  :  in  1820,  405  ;  in 
1827,  417;  in  1838,  509;  in  1846, 
523;  forbidden  by  Constitution,  510, 
542. 

Revolution,  American:  did  not  affect 
sentiment  in  Michigan,  165,  171. 

Revolution,  French,  of  1830  :  celebrat- 
ed, 418. 

Reynolds,  Doctor,  killed  at  Detroit, 
300. 

Ribourde,  Father  Gabriel  de  la,  chief 
missionary  with  LaSalle,  34. 

Richard,  Father  Gabriel :  arrives  at 
Detroit,  204;  introduces  printing 
press,  255 ;  delegate  to  Congress, 
398;  dies,  440. 

Richardie,  Father  de  la,  Huron  mis- 
sionary, 101,  103. 

Riflemen,  mounted :  Johnson's  regi- 
ment, 363;  arrive  at  Detroit,  371; 
break  the  enemy's  lines  at  the 
Thames,  ib. 

Roads:  none  before  Moravian,  186; 
few  in  Hull's  time,  262  ;  government 
roads,  415. 

Robertson,  William  and  David,  in 
Randall  scheme,  199. 

Rocheblave,  M.  de,  Commander  at 
Kaskaskia,  173  ;  captured  and  sent 
to  Virginia,  174. 


602 


INDEX. 


Rogers,  Major  Robert :    takes  posses- 


sion   of    Detroit. 


109 


in    Pontiac 


war,  129 ;  frauds  at  Mackinaw,  and 

subsequent  career,  145. 
Rosalie,  Fort,  95. 
Roseboom,  a  New  York  trader :    sent 

to  Mackinaw  by  Governor  Dongan, 

44 ;  captured  by  Durantaye,  45. 
Roture,  lands  at  Detroit  held  in,  91. 


Roundhead,  Wyandot  chief,  334,  340, 
342. 

Rowland,  Captain  (and  Major)  Thomas: 
refuses  to  submit  to  Hull's  surren- 
der, 305 ;  a  gentleman  of  literary 
tastes,  422. 

Royal  Americans,  (60th  Regiment),  at 
Detroit,  109. 

Ruland,  Israel,  imprisoned  and  ban- 
ished by  Proctor,  347,  354. 


Sabrevois,  Commander  at  Detroit,  93, 
94. 

SacsorSakis:  at  Detroit,  82 ;  befriend 
Etherington,  119;  in  Black  Hawk 
war,  435-6. 

Sager,  Dr.  Abram,  on  geological  sur- 
vey, 488. 

Saghinan  or  Saginaw,  9. 

Sahiquage  or  Sweege,  a  name  of  Lake 
Erie,  57. 

St.  Anne's  Church,  Detroit,    81,  204, 

255.  387,  398. 

St.  Clair,  General  Arthur,  Governor  of 
Northwest  Territory,  210,  220. 

St.  Clair,  Arthur,  (son  of  Governor), 
Attorney  General,  210;  honored 
above  his  comrades,  ib. 

Ste.  Claire,  Lake,  named  by  LaSalle, 
38 ;  various  names,  ib. 

St.  Esprit,  mission  at  Chegoimegon, 
12. 

St.  George,  Colonel,  at  Maiden,  278. 

St.  Ignace,  the  old  mission  of  Mack- 
inaw, 12. 

St.  Joseph,  of  Lake  Michigan,  Fort : 
built  by  LaSalle,  39 ;  removed  in- 
land, 40 ;  captured  in  Pontiac  war, 
1 20. 

St.  Joseph,  Port,  on  St.  Clair  River: 
built  by  DuLuth,  43;  commanded 
by  LaHontan,  46;  destroyed  and 
abandoned,  49. 

St.  Lusson,  holds  council  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  21. 


St.  Ours,  Deschaillons  de,  at  Detroit, 

93- 
Salaries,  under  State  Constitution,  544, 

577. 

Salieres  (Carignan)  Regiment,  26. 

Salt  manufacture,  573. 

Sargent,  Winthrop,  Secretary  and  act- 
ing Governor  of  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, at  Detroit,  197 ;  organizes  civil 
and  military  affairs,  and  establishes 
Wayne  County,  205. 

Sastaretsi,  the  great  Huron  chief,  taken 
to  Quebec,  and  dies,  101. 

Sault  de  Ste.  Marie:  early  mission,  10, 
19 ;  St.  Lusson  holds  council,  21  ; 
seigneurie  granted  to  Repentigny, 
71,  92,  107;  visited  by  Henry,  in  ; 
British  sympathizers,  201,  283,  286, 
402  ;  Cass  makes  treaty  there,  404  ; 
ship  canal  interrupted  by  troops, 
502 ;  built,  546. 

Sawyer,  Franklin,  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  440,  513. 

Scalps,  reward  for,  177. 

SchiefHin,  Jonathan  :  captured  at  Vin- 
cennes  and  sent  to  Virginia,  177  ;  in- 
terested in  Randall  scheme,  199 ;  re- 
tains British  allegiance,  200;  obtains 
large  Indian  grants,  196,  201 ;  repre- 
sents Wayne  County  in  Assembly, 
223  ;  spirited  conduct  at  Chillicothe, 
ib. 

Schools :  early  founded  in  Detroit, 
254-6 ;    grants  for,  220,  230 ;  system 


INDEX. 


603 


adopted,  416,    481;     Normal,   532; 

Reform,  559. 
Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.:    on  Cass's  first 

expedition,    400;    historical    writer, 

422. 
Scott,    Dr.    William    McDowell,    354;   j 

abused  by  Proctor,  ib. 
Scott,  Miss,  befriends  prisoners,  350. 
Scottish  officers  and  merchants,  liked  i 

by  Indians,  136. 
Search  of  American  vessels  at  Maiden, 

379- 
Sedgwick,  Theodore,  exposes  Randall 

and  Whitney,  199. 
Seigneuries :    only   two    in    Michigan, 

7i- 

Senecas :  expedition  against,  46 ; 
friendly  to  United  States,  260. 

Servants  at  Detroit,  praised  by  Judge 
Burnet,  113  n 

Settlements  :  opposed  by  Jesuits,  fur 
companies  and  British  Ministry,  19, 
20,  150,  170,  172;  favored  by  Beau- 
harnois,  Galissonniere  and  Vau- 
dreuil,  89,  105,  107 ;  in  Michigan, 
largely  from  other  States,  426 

Shaler,  Charles,  declines  the  office  of 
Secretary,  465. 

Shawanoes,  in  part  join  Tecumseh  and 
the  Prophet,  258-9 ;  partly  friendly 
to  the  United  States,  260. 

Shea,  Dr.  John  G.,  30. 

Shelby,  Governor  Isaac  :  patriotic  ser- 
vices, 363 ;  leads  Kentucky  volun- 
teers, ib.;  his  pony  at  Maiden,  370; 
commands  army  after  the  Battle  of 
the  Thames,  372;  fort  named  after 
him,  374. 

Sheldon,  John  P:  editor  of  Gazette, 
384;  Secretary  of  Council,  412; 
tried  for  contempt,  417. 

Shinplaster  currency,  384-5. 

Shipp,  Lieutenant,  at  Fort  Stephenson, 
360. 

Short,  Lieutenant  Colonel  (British), 
killed  at  Fort  Stephenson,  360. 

Shipping,  at  Detroit,  in  1796,  215. 


Sibley,  Lieutenant,  killed  at  Detroit, 
300. 

Sibley,  Solomon  :  first  American  set- 
tler in  Michigan,  217;  delegate  to 
Assembly,  219  ;  member  of  Council, 
222  ;  meeting  with  Lewis  Cass,  218  ; 
Supreme  Court  Judge,  217,411  ;  de- 
legate to  Congress,  398. 

Sieges  of  Detroit,  81,  123-130. 

Silver,  discovered  on  Lake  Superior, 
148. 

Simcoe,  John  Graves,  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor of  Upper  Canada,  193  ;  suc- 
ceeds Rogers  in  command  of  Queen's 
Rangers,  194;  builds  fort  on  Mau- 
mee,  195  ;   cajoles  Hull,  270. 

Sinclair,  Patrick,  Lieutenant  Governor, 
178;  at  Mackinaw,  188;  removes 
fort  to  Island  of  Michilimackinac,  ib. 

Slavery,  not  to  be  extended,  539. 

Slaves,  in  Canada  and  Michigan,  113, 
204,  246. 

Smart,  Robert,  350,  356. 

Smith,  Thomas,  appointed  clerk  by 
Lord  Dorchester,  161;  killed  at 
Maumee,  ib. 

Smythe,  Richard,  cavalry  officer  at  De- 
troit, 321. 

Snelling,  Colonel  Josiah,  of  Miller's 
regiment,  297,  299,  300,  319. 

Social  life  in  Detroit,  202,  211,  218, 
225,  254,  420. 

Solar  compass,  527. 

South  Sea  expeditions,  21. 

Springwells,  or  Bellefontaine :  Hull's 
camping  ground,  277 ;  Brock  crosses 
there,  300 ;  encampment  of  soldiers 
in  Black  Hawk  war,  278,  440;  of 
"  Patriots,"  278. 

Sproat,  Colonel  Ebenezer,  218. 

Squaws,  defeat  Indians  at  foot-ball, 
210. 

State  House  at  Lansing,  575. 

State  Library,  under  lady  librarian,  576. 

Statutes:  revised  in  1820,  405;  1827, 
417;  1838,509;  1846,523;  Com- 
piled, 1857,542;  1872,  542. 


604 


N  D  E  X. 


Steamboat  Walk-in-the- Water,  first  on 
Lake  Erie,  395. 

Stephenson,  Fort,  defended  by  Major 
Croghan,  360. 

Stuart,  Charles  E  ,  Senator,  569. 

Strang,  James  J.,  King  of  the  Mor- 
mons, 549. 

Superior,  Lake  :  early  missions  on,  10, 
II ;  visited  by  Alexander  Henry,  147; 


by  Cass,  404,  414 ;  surveys  on,  527  ; 
mining,  148,  529 ;  first  steamboat 
on,  529. 

Sweege,  Lake,  (Erie),  57. 

Symmes,  Judge  John  Cleves,  at  De- 
troit, 210. 

Symmes,  Captain  John  Cleves :  curi- 
ous theory  concerning  the  interior  of 
the  earth, — "  Symmes's  Hole,"  396 


Tabellion  :  nature  of  his  office,  97. 

Talon,  Intendant,  sends  out  expedi- 
tions, 21,  29. 

Tanner,  John,  captive  among  Indians 
— dangerous  character,  415. 

Taochiarontiong,  same  as  Atiochiaron- 
tiong. 

Tappan,  Dr.  Henry  P.,  President  of 
the  University,  554. 

Tarhee  (the  Crane),  Wyandot  chief, 
joins  Harrison,  362. 

Taxes:  laid  by  Commander  at  De- 
troit, 140 ;  how  levied  in  Territory, 
262. 

Taychatin,  chief,  goes  to  Quebec  with 
Bellestre,  and  dies,  10 1. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  defeats  Indians  in 
Black  Hawk  war,  436. 

Tecumseh,  Chief  of  the  Shawanoes: 
incites  the  Indians  to  war,  258 ;  af- 
ter defeat  at  Tippecanoe  goes  to 
Maiden,  260;  humanity  at  Fort 
Meigs,  358;  at  Bois-blanc  during 
Battle  of  Lake  Erie,  369;  insults 
Proctor  for  cowardice,  ib.\  killed  at 
the  Thames,  371-2 

Teganissorens,  Chief  of  the   Iroquois, 

55- 
Tenney,  Mrs.  H.  A  ,    State  Librarian, 

576. 
Tenures   of  lands,   in  Cadillac's  seig- 

neurie,    72;    of    Royal   grants,   91; 

of  lands  in  fort,  97. 
Teuchsa    Grondie,     {see  Atiochiaronti- 

ong). 
Texas  annexation  favored,  520. 


Thames,  Battle  of  the,  371. 

Thomas  (or  Tomaw),  Menominie  chief, 
373,  401-2. 

Tippecanoe,  Battle  of,  260. 

Tobacco,  exported  from  Detroit,  417. 

Toledo  war,  447. 

Tonty,  Chevalier  Henry  de,  LaSalle's 
companion,  32 ;  in  Seneca  cam- 
paign, 44. 

Tonty,  the  younger,  Commander  at 
Detroit,  80 ;  grasping  and  arrogant, 
87. 

Tories,  granted  lands  in  Canada,  194 

Townships,  first  organized,  413. 

Tracy,  Marquis  de,  Viceroy,  26;  his 
Iroquois  campaign,  27. 

Trade:  restricted,  15,  25,32;  western, 
coveted  by  English,  42 ;  licenses,  25, 
69  ;  monopoly  at  Detroit,  87  ;  open 
after  conquest,  116. 

Traders:  at  Detroit,  136,  212,  215, 
228 ;  at  Sault  and  Green  Bay,  hostile 
to  the  United  States,  228,  283,  286. 

Trading  houses,  government,  229,  406. 

Treaty,  of  Paris,  113;  Jay's,  196,  198, 
204. 

Trimble,  Major  William  A.,  of  Ohio 
volunteers,  274. 

Trowbridge,  Charles  C,  iv.;  with  ex- 
pedition of  1820,  401 ;  collects  his- 
tory, 422. 

Trumbull,  Judge  John,  author  of  Mc- 
Fingal,  434. 

Turnbull,  Captain  George,  vindicates 
Cuillerier,  125  ;  establishes  courts, 
141. 


INDEX. 


605 


u 


University  :  founded,  385  ;  reorgan- 
ized in  1822,  407;  by  Constitution 
of  1835,  481;    law  and  medical  de- 


partments, 532,  555  ;  by  Constitution 
of  1850,  543,  554. 
Upper  Peninsula,  526,  546,  554,  570. 


V 


Judge  Advocate 
on  Hull's  trial,  306. 

Van  Home,  Thomas  B.,  major  of  Ohio 
regiment,  274;  at  Battle  of  Browns- 
town,  287,  289. 

Vaudreuil,  Philip  de  Rigaud,  Marquis 
de,  favors  brandy  trade,  85. 


Vaudreuil,  Pierre  de  Rigaud,  Marquis 

de,   furthers   settlement   of  Detroit, 

107. 
Vincennes,  Sieur  de  :   gallant  conduct, 

82.. 
Vinceimes,  town  and  fort,  captured  by 

Clark,  176. 


W 


Wabishkindibe,  name  of  Henry  Con- 
nor, 131,  187. 

Walk-in-the-Water,  first  steamboat  on 
Lake  Erie,  395,  400. 

Walk-in-the-Water,    Wyandot     chief, 

289,  336,  340,  372-3. 

Walker,  Hon.  Charles  I.,  iv.,  555,  561. 

War  of  1812,  Chaps.  XI.  and  XII. 

War  Department,  Chap.  XI.  passim. 

Washington's  views  on  the  retention  of 
western  posts,  189. 

Water  ways,  the  only  roads,  58. 

Wawatam,  an  Indian  chief,  saves  Al- 
exander Henry,  121. 

Wawyachtenok  (Waweatanong),  old 
name  of  Detroit,  51,  56,  57. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony  :  campaign, 
195 ;  visits  Detroit,  197 ;  death  and 
preservation  of  his  body,  ib. 

Wayne  County :  established,  205  ;  dis- 
franchised on  organization  of  Ohio, 
223-4;  re-organized,  382. 

Weld,  Isaac,  describes  Detroit,  213. 

Wendat,  or  Wyandot,  {see  Huron). 

Wells,  Captain  William,  killed  at  Chi- 
cago, 294-5. 

Wells,  Colonel,  at  Frenchtown,  341. 

Wells,  Ensign,  murdered  at  French- 
town,  346. 

Wells,  Professor,  555. 


1   Wheat:    introduced   by   Cadillac,  74; 
raised  many  years  on  same  land,  86. 
Whipping-post,  405. 
Whipple,  Commodore,  218. 
Whipple,  Major  John,  250. 
Whipple,  Judge  Charles  W.,  250. 
Whistler,  Major  John,  at  Detroit,  si- 
lences British  battery,  297. 
White  River,  English  to  be  kept  from, 

99,  100,  104. 
Whiting,  General  Henry,  395,  422. 
Whitney,  Charles,  plots  with  Randall 
and  others  to  obtain  title  to  Michi- 
gan, 199. 
i   Wild-cat  banks,  490. 
I   Willcox,  General  O.  B.,  564,  566. 
I   Wilkins,  Ross,  Judge :  appointed,  435  ; 
first  United   States   District  Judge, 

475- 
j   Winchester,  General,  337  ;  disasters  at 

Frenchtown,  335-346. 
j   Windmills,  216. 
j  Wing,  Austin  E.,  delegate  to  Congress, 

399- 
Winimeg,  Indian  chief,  carries  message 

to  Chicago,  293. 
\  Wisconsin,  annexed  to  Michigan,  383 ; 

made  Territory,  443. 
Wisner,  Moses,  Governor,  545,  563. 


606 


N  D  E  X 


Witherell,  James,  Territorial  Judge, 
245  ;  Major  of  Legion,  299 ;  paroled, 
304;  Secretary  of  Territory,  417. 

Wolcott,  Alexander,  401. 

Women  admitted  to  University,  557. 

Woodbridge,  William,  Secretary  of 
Territory,  376;  Judge  of  Supreme 
Court,  417,  435;  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, 398;  Governor,  514,  536; 
Senator,  515,  536. 


Woodward,  Augustus  B.,  Judge,  Chaps. 
X.,  XL,  XII.  and  XIII. passim;  le- 
gislated out  of  office,  411. 

Woolfolk,  Captain,  murdered  at 
Frenchtown,   346. 

Wright,  John,  botanist,  488. 

Wyandot,  {see  Huron). 

Wyley,  Ann,  executed  by  Dejean,  167. 


Zeisberger,  David,  Moravian  missionary,  182. 


